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Joseph Bruchac: Other Books
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From: Beverly Slapin <oyate>
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 18:19:04 +0000
debbie ann reese (by way of Eliza T. Dresang ) wrote:
Thanks for bringing up , Debbie, it is one of my favorite children's books, and especially one of my favorite of Joe's books.
What I like especially is the way Joe's words and Paul Morin's pictures give a wholeness to the story, including what is not said. In the first illustration, Jamie is alone in bed, her eyes closed, trying to "find her way back into the dream where Grama Bowman was with her." Her room is lit in daylight, and you can see Jamie is not asleep, although her eyes are closed. The words say that "the sun came slanting in through the window," but you see neither sun nor window; you just know the light is there.
On another page, there is a river, and you can see the reflections of a grove of birch trees, and off to the top right, if you look carefully, a hint of the reflection of Grama and Jamie. It is later in the day and
"the sun's warmth was even stronger on her face now. Jamie heard her mother come into the room and stand by the bed....but Jamie lay still, knowing her mother would not bother her." Her mother is not going to get her up today. She's just going to let Jamie be, to work this thing through, to be there if she is needed. This is the kind of "positive Indian parenting" that communities in healing are relearning.
That Jamie is of mixed blood is spoken, but not in a way meant to
"teach" something. On Jamie's dresser top?a double-page spread?there is an Abenaki birch?rk basket, a bracelet, a necklace, and a French doily. This says more about who Jamie is than any words could.
And there is humor here, in the midst of this great sadness, as Jamie remembers Grama's joking around, about marrying with the French people, about whose boots fit whom, about children bossing around old people.
This is just a beautiful book, in every way. Thanks, Joe.
Beverly
______________ Beverly Slapin Oyate 2702 Mathews St. Berkeley, CA 94702
(510) 848g00
(510) 848H15 fax oyate at oyate.org www.oyate.org
Received on Mon 18 Oct 1999 01:19:04 PM CDT
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 18:19:04 +0000
debbie ann reese (by way of Eliza T. Dresang ) wrote:
Thanks for bringing up , Debbie, it is one of my favorite children's books, and especially one of my favorite of Joe's books.
What I like especially is the way Joe's words and Paul Morin's pictures give a wholeness to the story, including what is not said. In the first illustration, Jamie is alone in bed, her eyes closed, trying to "find her way back into the dream where Grama Bowman was with her." Her room is lit in daylight, and you can see Jamie is not asleep, although her eyes are closed. The words say that "the sun came slanting in through the window," but you see neither sun nor window; you just know the light is there.
On another page, there is a river, and you can see the reflections of a grove of birch trees, and off to the top right, if you look carefully, a hint of the reflection of Grama and Jamie. It is later in the day and
"the sun's warmth was even stronger on her face now. Jamie heard her mother come into the room and stand by the bed....but Jamie lay still, knowing her mother would not bother her." Her mother is not going to get her up today. She's just going to let Jamie be, to work this thing through, to be there if she is needed. This is the kind of "positive Indian parenting" that communities in healing are relearning.
That Jamie is of mixed blood is spoken, but not in a way meant to
"teach" something. On Jamie's dresser top?a double-page spread?there is an Abenaki birch?rk basket, a bracelet, a necklace, and a French doily. This says more about who Jamie is than any words could.
And there is humor here, in the midst of this great sadness, as Jamie remembers Grama's joking around, about marrying with the French people, about whose boots fit whom, about children bossing around old people.
This is just a beautiful book, in every way. Thanks, Joe.
Beverly
______________ Beverly Slapin Oyate 2702 Mathews St. Berkeley, CA 94702
(510) 848g00
(510) 848H15 fax oyate at oyate.org www.oyate.org
Received on Mon 18 Oct 1999 01:19:04 PM CDT
