Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds: The Voices of Sleeping Birds

Rylant, Cynthia

ISBN 10: 0780787862 ISBN 13: 9780780787865

Publisher: Turtleback Books, 1998

Synopsis

Lyrical prose and warm watercolor illustrations bring a "certain part of the country called Appalachia" alive for young readers. Two award-winning artists, forever touched by their experiences growing up in this unique landscape, have teamed to create a quietly powerful and beautifully crafted portrait of life in a timeless place.

About this title

About the Author:

CYNTHIA RYLANT is a Newbery Medalist and the author of many acclaimed books for young people. She's well known for her popular characters for early readers, including Mr. Putter & Tabby and Henry and Mudge. She lives near Portland, Oregon.   

From Publishers Weekly:

Like a cherished photograph album, this portrait of Appalachia by two natives of the region is suffused with memories made golden by time. Beginning with the dogs that are "named Prince or King" and live in towns "with names like Coal City and Sally's Backbone," Rylant moves to the people, their houses and their activities. Neither story nor factual treatise, the text offers pure nostalgia--a skillfully structured essay that appears, deceptively, to meander like a dusty country lane and underscores the warmth, generosity of spirit and steadfastness of the inhabitants of the "shimmering painted mountains." Rylant is frequently effusive: "The men and women and children who live in Appalachia have no sourness about them," she says; and "The children love all the seasons." But when she focuses on particular details, lyricism suffuses her prose: the "mountains wear heavy shawls of fog, and giant moths flap at the porch lights while cars cut through the dark hollows like burrowing moles." Moser's masterfully executed paintings--from the stretching coon dog to the biscuits that wait on the iron stove--find beauty in plainness, capturing the culture and people of the hollows with affection and sensitivity. Ages 5-up.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Turtleback Books
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0780787862
• ISBN 13: 9780780787865
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 32