Pele and the Rivers of Fire - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1573060798 ISBN 13: 9781573060790

Publisher: Bess Press, 2002

Synopsis

Tells the story of the impetuous and unpredictable Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, Pele.

About this title

About the Author

Michael Nordenstrom is Associate Librarian and Volunteer Coordinator at the Salt Lake City Public Library. Pele and the Rivers of Fire blends his love for art and anthropology and embodies his believe in preserving the legends. He uses collage, he says, because it "makes each picture its own work of art. The illustrations are a mix of acrylic and watercolor paints, which I apply to large sheets of paper. After drawing each picture, I cut and arrange the pieces as if they were a puzzle. I aim to weave a mixture of colors and patterns into each work.

Reviews

Kindergarten-Grade 3-Hawaii's volcano goddess, Pele, has become more familiar to mainland Americans through her appearance in folklore collections and several works of children's fiction, including Dan Greenburg's The Volcano Goddess Will See You Now (Grosset & Dunlap, 1997) and Gloria Skurzynski's Rage of Fire (National Geographic, 1999). Nordenstrom brings the legend to picture-book form as Pele moves from island to island following her shark brother and chased by her ocean sister. Each place that she settles erupts into a new volcanic island. This pourquoi tale is heavy on the "pourquoi" and light on the "tale." The illustrations are paper cuttings, reminiscent of, but not as detailed as, those by David Wisniewski. The image of Pele in nearly every picture gives a repetitive feel to the pages, and her awkwardly portrayed mouth on many pages hints at a mustache. Despite these drawbacks, libraries in areas that study the Hawaiian Islands will want a copy of this book to document one legend about the islands' formation.
Ellen Heath, Orchard School, Ridgewood, NJ
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 2-4. Pele is sleeping, the Hawaiian Islands are quiet, but when the volcano goddess awakens, the earth roars and lava explodes from the mountain. This story recounts how Pele journeyed from Tahiti to the Hawaiian Islands, accompanied by her shark brother and followed by her sea-goddess sister, Namakaokaha'i. The sisters battled until Pele's death, but her spirit still inhabits Hawaiian volcanoes. This retelling is so slight, it reads more like an abstract than a story. No source is cited, but a graceful version of this legend can be found in Vivian Thompson's Hawaiian Myths of Earth, Sea, and Sky (1966.) The strength of this work lies with the dramatic collage, acrylic, and watercolor art, dominated by bold oranges and blues. Rafe Martin's The Shark God (2001) is a better choice for most libraries, but this is an attractive supplement for larger collections. Linda Perkins
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Bess Press
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1573060798
• ISBN 13: 9781573060790
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Michael Nordenstrom
• Number of pages: 32