Down by the River: Afro-Caribbean Rhymes, Games, and Songs for Children - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0590693204 ISBN 13: 9780590693202

Publisher: Cartwheel Books, 1996

Synopsis

A distinctive Caribbean flavor pulses through twenty-seven rhymes, songs, chants, and games included in a lively tribute to sunny African-Caribbean customs.

About this title

About the Author:

Caroline Binch's illustrations for Hue Boy, written by Rita Phillips Mitchell, won the Smarties Prize. She illustrated the bestselling story Amazing Grace and several other Grace stories by Mary Hoffman. Gregory Cool, which Caroline wrote and illustrated, was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal, and her Since Dad Left won the United Kingdom Book Award in 1998.

To visit Caroline's website click here

Grace Hallworth was born and brought up in Trinidad, where she trained as a librarian. In 1956 she moved to England and introduced storytelling in Hertfordshire as part of children's library education. In 1984 she became a full-time storyteller, and moved back to Tobago. She appears at many international festivals, on radio and on television, as well as serving on a number of children's literature award panels. Her many books include Down by the River, illustrated by Caroline Binch, which was a runner-up for the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1996.

From Booklist:

Ages 2^-6. With exuberant watercolor pictures of smiling girls and boys at play--singing, clapping, shouting, jumping rope, laughing out loud, dressing up--this large-size anthology celebrates more than 20 playground folk rhymes from the Caribbean. Hallworth says in her autobiographical note that she remembers most of these songs and games from her childhood in Trinidad; only as an adult did she discover that many have African, European, and American roots. Some are familiar ("Rain, rain, go away" and "One potato" ); some will be new to most U.S. families; and Hallworth provides brief notes to local references and directions for playing the circle games. The rhymes are grouped on double-page spreads, including "Wake-up Time," "In the Playground," "Taunts and Teases," "Friendship," and "Time for Bed." Binch's paintings move from the more individualized focus of Amazing Grace (1991) and Hue Boy (1993) to a big cast of joyful children having fun together in a sunlit Caribbean paradise. Her pictures capture the rhythm and movement of the old loved rhymes that will be around for a long time. Of course, Caribbean American families will be thrilled with this collection, and so will all kids who love singing games and nonsense rhymes. Use this with Mother Goose and with Alvin Schwartz's folk rhyme collection And the Green Grass Grew All Around (1992). Hazel Rochman

About this edition

• Publisher: Cartwheel Books
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0590693204
• ISBN 13: 9780590693202
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Editor: Hallworth Grace
• Illustrator: Binch Caroline