Land of the Long White Cloud: Maori Myths, Tales and Legends - Hardcover

Te Kanawa, Kiri; Foreman, Michael; Kanawa, Kiri Te

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1559700467 ISBN 13: 9781559700467

Publisher: Arcade Pub, 1990

Synopsis

A collection of nineteen tales from various Maori tribes of New Zealand about the trickster Maui, the Creation, monsters, birds, animals, and special places.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Accomplishment in one artistic field isn't always an indicator of skill in another, but Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, the internationally acclaimed opera singer, is an excellent reteller of traditional Maori literature. In each of these 19 stories, she provides short introductions to the tales that offer intriguing glimpses of the role of the story in her New Zealand childhood. These give readers the information they need to fully enjoy each story that follows. Lively and full of action, adventure, and magic, the collection is well balanced with myths, hero legends, fairy tales, and pourquoi stories. These tales also reveal specifics of Maori life and its Polynesian roots. Especially appealing is an Orpheus story, "Hutu and Pare," in which a determined hero follows his love into an underworld populated by a fair-skinned, blond-haired people with unusual eating habits. Jewel-toned watercolor illustrations capture the vibrant quality of the stories and convey the changing moods of sea and sky. This book is a rich source of Pacific island material. --Carolyn Polese, Gateway Community School, Arcata, CA
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

The pairing of one of the world's leading divas with a celebrated children's book illustrator may seem unlikely at first, but this duo has produced a ravishing collection, strikingly designed and suffused with the intrigue and magic of an exotic land. Born in New Zealand of a Maori father and an Irish mother, Te Kanawa states in her preface that her intent is to pass along recollected childhood tales that were--and are--so meaningful to her. In these 19 stories, her lyrical language transports readers to a long-ago world where babies are cast adrift in a cradle of seaweed and mother's hair, where a young god retards the Sun's journey with a flaxen net. ("We need more hours of light in our days for hunting and fishing . . . ") Foreman's watercolors possess an almost mystical feel in their depictions of swelling seas, wondrous monsters and peaceful lagoons (a shimmering blue paradise is broken only by vivid green birds and a graceful rainbow). His paintings contrast the tropical serenity with the wildness of this untamed country. Bravos to these gifted artists. Ages 6-10.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Arcade Pub
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 1559700467
• ISBN 13: 9781559700467
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 118
• Illustrator: Foreman Michael