From Sea to Shining Sea: A Treasury of American Folklore and Folk Songs

Cohn, Amy L

ISBN 10: 0590428683 ISBN 13: 9780590428682

Publisher: Scholastic, 1993

Synopsis

A collection of 140 folktales, songs, poems, and essays features the words of Mark Twain, Virginia Hamilton, Walt Whitman, Stephen Foster, and Woody Guthrie and pays tribute to American folklore. 150,000 first printing. $250,000 ad/promo. BOMC Alt. History Bk Club Feat.

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Reviews

This sumptuous anthology gathers into its generous embrace a rich mix of cultural heritages, from Native American and African American to Hispanic, Pennsylvania Dutch, Cajun, Jewish, Shaker, Scandinavian and others. The resulting medley of folk songs, folklore, prose and poetry is as lovely as an Appalachian patchwork quilt, with each piece a unique but integral part of the whole. Each of 15 Caldecott artists--including Chris Van Allsburg, Barbara Cooney, Donald Crews, Molly Bang and Ed Young--provides stylish illustrations for an entire unit of the book, which is divided chronologically and thematically. Creation stories, pourquoi tales and a Navajo song conjure up America "In the Beginning" (Leo and Diane Dillon illustrate this section); the American revolution, the immigrant experience, slavery, westward expansion, tall tales, ghost stories and baseball all receive their due. The final section, "In Our Time," features numerous 20th-century landmarks (including Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech) as well as folklore from such latter-day immigrant cultures as Vietnamese, Haitian and Cuban. What better way for children to get acquainted with their country's wealth of diversity than through an all-star collaboration like this? All ages.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A swell compilation (almost as good as the 150,000 first printing, BOMC choice, etc., suggests) of ``the heart and soul of America's story''--folk tales and songs from major ethnic groups, historical vignettes, and more, all arranged in 15 topical sections (with eight to ten entries each) on historical periods, typical genres (tricksters; nonsense; animal stories), and such quintessentially American topics as railroads, tall-tale heroes, and baseball (including Abbott and Costello's ``Who's on First?''--one of several entries not easily available elsewhere). Cohn's selections are informed by conscience as well as diversity (the ten pieces in the section entitled ``Let My People Go'' all represent African-American points of view); her range, representation, and ear for cadence, humor, and appeal are admirable. The best entries are well-honed songs and stories left in the form in which they earned their popularity; the abridgments, retellings, and historical summaries don't have the same energy, but do help tie it all together and make a vehicle for the art that comprises nearly half of this generously huge book. The 14 blue-ribbon artists, most of them Caldecott medalists, aren't always at their best here, nor do they always work in their trademark styles and media (Van Allsburg's humorous ``Frozen Logger'' is in intricate pen and ink), but there's a wealth of splendid images (Ed Young's concluding ``Earth/always/endures''--Native American), and some intriguing matches (Trina Schart Hyman illustrating a Julius Lester tale originally visualized by fellow contributor Jerry Pinkney). Introductory comments for each entry plus interesting endnotes (including ``Read More About It'' sections) and more specific acknowledgements yield a lot (but not always the actual sources for the retold stories, and it's cumbersome to search all three). A treasure-trove for browsing, enlivening the curriculum, reading aloud, devouring whole, or returning to nibble again and again. ``Suggestions for Further Reading''; subject guide; chronology; index. (Anthology. 4-12) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0590428683
• ISBN 13: 9780590428682
• Binding: Textbook Binding
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416