Earthsong - Softcover

Sally Rogers

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0439403650 ISBN 13: 9780439403658

Publisher: Scholastic, 2002

Synopsis

Warm illustrations and the rhythm of a traditional song carry an important reminder for new generations "In the North Atlantic Ocean 'neath the Arctic sun, Lived a mom and papa right whale and their whale calf one. Blow! said the mom. I blow! said the one. And they blew and they spouted 'neath the Arctic sun." Read it. Sing it. Enjoy it. Learn from it. This picture book for the preschool set, based on acclaimed singer-songwriter Sally Rogers' popular song Over in the Endangered Meadow, offers a host of pleasures. Its rhyming text, which revolves around dialogue between parents and their offspring, both human and animal, can be read aloud and also sung to the traditional tune Over in the Meadow. As the words roll along, the book proves to be a glimpse of animal families and a counting vehicle wrapped into one. In addition to the right whale, ten other endangered animals are named: panda bear, Bengal tiger, Asiatic lion, black-footed ferret, sun conure, Gila monster, leatherback turtle, gray wolf, American crocodile, and Indian python. Notes at the back give additional information. Children will enjoy how the warmly stylized art brings all the animals into a quilt that symbolizes the unity of everything on Earth. Share! said my grandpa. Let's share this place./And take care of Mother Earth as she spins through space.

About this title

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3?Eleven endangered animals from many regions of the world care for their young in this numerical rhyming scheme borrowed from the traditional folk song "Over in the Meadow." Rogers utilizes lyrics she has previously recorded, framing them with opening and closing scenes featuring several children and their grandparents. "'Sing!' said my grandpa. 'Let's sing!' said we./And this is what we sang upon my grandpa's knee." Double-page views go on to feature right whales in the north Atlantic Ocean, pandas far away in China, Bengal tigers in the Bangladeshi jungles, several more mammals, rain forest birds, and assorted reptiles. Mathis's simple, folk-style creatures are handsomely grouped in deep-hued, framed paintings. The animals all appear in a quilt grandmother is sewing in the opening scene, and the quilt also serves as rich endpapers. Concluding factual notes on each of the animals expand the simple lesson on caring for the Earth and its creatures, and the music for the song appears on the back of the book jacket. The thrust is both unabashedly didactic and appealing.?Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Olive Wadsworth's well-known verse, ``Over in the Meadow,'' has been adapted into a folksong by Rogers; now that song becomes a rollicking read-aloud counting book that glows with rich, jewel-like colors. The story begins in a grandparents' parlor, with `` `Sing!' said my grandpa. `Let's sing!' said we,'' and moves to one whale calf, two little pandas, three tigers (`` `Pounce!' said the mother. `We pounce!' said the three''), and so on. Each of the animals is endangered, and each is described further in the notes at the end. The poem proceeds through 11 wolves, then 40 crocodiles and 100 snakelets before returning to the grandparents and their grandchildren, and a call to share and to care for the earth. The bouncy rhythms carry the message sweetly; all of the animals have rather human expressionseven the gila monsters; and the family is wrapped in the beautiful tapestry of earth, beast, and bird that the grandmother was working on in the beginning. The music is included on the back of the jacket. (Picture book. 3-7) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0439403650
• ISBN 13: 9780439403658
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Melissa Bay Mathis