The Girl Who Wanted to Hunt: A Siberian Tale

Bernhard, Emery

ISBN 10: 0823411257 ISBN 13: 9780823411252

Publisher: Holiday House, 1994

Synopsis

In a dramatic retelling of a Siberian legend, Anga wants to hunt like her father and is ridiculed by her cruel stepmother, but finds her family in nature and her home in the heavens after her father dies.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

In this Siberian variation on the evil stepmother story, Anga wants to be a courageous hunter like her father. Anga's father understands. He makes his daughter ``a spear and a small bow and arrow,'' and he begins to teach Anga ``how to talk to all the wild creatures, even the great tiger.'' But Anga's evil stepmother, Unin, does not approve. Telling Anga that hunting is for men only, she makes the girl do chores all day. When her father dies, Anga is at the mercy of Unin, but magical forces of nature rise up to protect Anga and turn Unin into an owl doomed to cry out her own name for all eternity. The gouache-on-watercolor-paper illustrations are embellished with decorative art echoing that of the indigenous people of southeastern Siberia. Be prepared to explain the Bering land bridge, because kids may ask why the Siberians look like Native Americans. A fun fable by the creators of Eagles (p. 392, etc.) and Reindeer (see below). (Folklore/Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Booklist:

Ages 5-9. Orphaned when her hunter/father is killed by a tiger, Anga, a hunter herself, is tormented by her cruel stepmother, Unin. Even after avenging the death of her father by slaying the tiger that killed him, Anga can do nothing to please her stepmother. Warned that Unin plans to murder her, Anga flees on a path of moonbeams to the safety of the waiting moon. Unin turns into an owl that repeats its own name, "OOOO-nin, OOOO-nin," over and over again. Bernhard's gouache-and-pencil illustrations are immediate and fantastical, well suited to the adventurous Anga and the magic that surrounds her. The Bernhards cite sources for the retelling and inspiration for the artwork--"the highly sophisticated decorative art and ritual artifacts of the Udeghe, Nanai, and other indigenous peoples of the Amur River region." An unusual tale that lends itself to reading and telling aloud, this will also be helpful in rounding out curriculum units. Janice Del Negro

About this edition

• Publisher: Holiday House
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0823411257
• ISBN 13: 9780823411252
• Binding: Library Binding
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 1
• Illustrator: Bernhard Durga