The First Red Maple Leaf - Hardcover

Zeman, Ludmila

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0887763723 ISBN 13: 9780887763724

Publisher: Tundra Books, 1997

Synopsis

In an ancient time when Winter reigned and ice and darkness covered the land, a young boy’s heroic and unselfish act helps his people find the shelter of southern trees. But Winter isn’t finished yet and shakes the leaves from the trees. To show his gratitude to the trees, the boy uses all his strength and perseverance to help bring back the leaves. This wonderful tale gives hope that, even though Winter can never be vanquished, there is promise of the coming Spring.

About this title

About the Author

Ludmila Zeman was born in the former Czechoslovakia and immigrated to Canada in 1984. She has taught art in Vancouver, created animated sequences for Sesame Street and, with her husband, made the film Lord of the Sky, an award-winning animated short. Her epic Gilgamesh trilogy won numerous awards. Her book, The First Red Maple Leaf, was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for Illustration.

From the Inside Flap

t time when Winter reigned and ice and darkness covered the land, a young boy s heroic and unselfish act helps his people find the shelter of southern trees. But Winter isn t finished yet and shakes the leaves from the trees. To show his gratitude to the trees, the boy uses all his strength and perseverance to help bring back the leaves. This wonderful tale gives hope that, even though Winter can never be vanquished, there is promise of the coming Spring.

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 2. "The People," who appear to be a Native American tribe of the far north, are being destroyed by a cruel being, Iceheart, who freezes the land wherever they go. After a boy saves the life of a goose, the grateful Branta leads the people south, to a place where tall trees with shining red leaves offer warmth and protection. Iceheart attacks, tearing the leaves from the branches. Together, the boy and the goose bring back summer in the form of hundreds of birds that fill the tree, replacing the lost leaves and providing shelter. The goose says that winter will return, but that the birds and summer will follow each year. The author begins the story with an account of her family's escape from Czechoslovakia to safety in Canada. Her love for the security offered by the red maple leaf as a symbol of her new country became the basis for the story. The transition from the present to the past is somewhat jarring. The meticulously rendered pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations often appear as nine panels per page, three large ones in the middle that set the scenes and convey the action with three smaller ones on either side that offer varying perspectives and cameo portraits. At climactic points, a full-page picture is used instead of the panels. The art includes more details than the text and it adds texture to the story. The theme of seeking security is universal and is underscored by the cover illustration of children of various ethnicities dancing together around a large maple tree.?Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Tundra Books
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0887763723
• ISBN 13: 9780887763724
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 24