Quennu and the Cave Bear - Hardcover

Day, Marie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1895688868 ISBN 13: 9781895688863

Publisher: Maple Tree Press, 1999

Synopsis

Quennu is afraid of only one thing in her prehistoric world -- cave bears. When she is separated from her family and clan on a journey to the magical caverns where art is made, she must find her way alone. In the dark passages of the cave, the young girl's imagination takes over. In order to reunite with the rest of her clan, Quennu is faced with only one option -- she must face her fear.

In this provocative and imaginative story, Marie Day takes young readers on a magical journey through time. As one of prehistory's first artists, the character of Quennu embodies a subtle exploration of art, reality, and magic. Brave and thoughtful, she is the perfect young heroine.

About this title

About the Author:

Marie Day is the author and illustrator of Dragon in the Rocks and Edward the Crazy Man. For many years she was an award-winning costume and stage designer for operas and plays all over North America, including the Stratford Festival.

From Kirkus Reviews:

paper 1-895688-87-6 Day uses the prehistoric tale of a young girl coming to terms with her fear of bears to explore the world of cave art. Quennu might be able to handle woolly mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers, but cave bears give her the willies. Her clan's shaman gives her a bear tooth as a talisman to conquer her fear. On the day when the shaman summons all the people to the cave for an ecstatic painting ceremony, Quennu enters the cave after the others have gone on ahead. At one point she is sure she sees the fiery eyes of an enormous cave bear, yet she carries on, the tooth giving her strength. When she finds her clan in the shadowscape of a great chamber, they are singing and dancing and chanting and applying brushes to the cave walls. Quennu joins in, painting the bear, and putting to rest her fears of the creature, but not her respect for it. Day delivers charged, swirling color and smoky imagery in her illustrations, plus the frisson of transportive mystery that may turn children into future history majors. An explanatory page at the end puts the action into context. (Picture book. 7-11) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Maple Tree Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 1895688868
• ISBN 13: 9781895688863
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32