Everglades

From Publishers Weekly
Newbery Medalist George presents a haunting plea for the preservation of endangered ecosystems, a plea strengthened by Minor's majestic paintings. Poling a canoe through the Everglades, a man tells his five young passengers a story. Beginning with "the age of the Seashells," the narrator shows the children how the spillover from Lake Okeechobee became "a slow river that gleamed like quicksilver"; and how the "saw grass clattered like a trillion swords" when the wind blew. As he describes "all things large and small that make the Earth beautiful," full-spread art depicts the river's history, while medallions top text pages with symbols of the vanishing Everglades. When the storyteller details the wanton destruction of this habitat, the dispirited children request "a happy story." He then tells of how "five children and a storyteller poled into the Everglades" and "eventually the children grew up and ran the Earth." With her narrative skill and expertise as a naturalist, George adroitly avoids didacticism. A particularly persuasive environmental work. Ages 6-9. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 2-5?An Indian storyteller poles five children through the Everglades in his dugout, and in language as lush as the land of which he speaks, he tells them the story of the river of grass. He speaks with reverence, beginning eons ago, when there was only the sun and the sea, taking the story through the formation of land rich with lakes and rivers. His words, brimming with metaphor and simile, describe an abundant web of plant and animal life, thriving in "a living kaleidoscope of color and beauty." Minor's paintings, alive with color and detail, open a panoramic door into this idyllic past. The storyteller continues, describing the various peoples who passed through or lived gracefully in this place. So, the children wonder as they look around them, what happened to all that you describe? Now his statements are stark as he describes how hunters, collectors, and finally developers pushed native species to the brink of extinction, or beyond. The listening children soberly ask for a happier tale and their guide describes a future in which they are in control. The story and the art create a mystical tale that flows from a serene start to a powerful conclusion. With the magic of Lynne Cherry's The Great Kapok Tree (Harcourt, 1990) and the strength of Chief Seattle's words in Brother Eagle, Sister Sky (Dial, 1991), this is a plea for conservation and a story eloquently told.?Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library SystemCopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 2^-4. Though structured as a tale told to five children whom a storyteller has poled into the Everglades, the narrative focuses on the history of that unusual ecosystem. The narrator tells how the Everglades became "a living kaleidoscope of color and beauty," filled with plants and animals, and how human involvement has changed the ecology, devastating the area. Minor's handsome full-page paintings show what those earlier times must have looked like. When the children ask about what happened to the orchids, egrets, and alligators, the storyteller suggests that they can make a happy ending to the story when they grow up. Some of the interactions between humans and nature are oversimplified, but the artwork makes a convincing plea for an observant relationship with our surroundings. Mary Harris Veeder


"A particularly persuasive evironmental work."


"The story and the art create a mystical tale that flows from a serene start to a powerful conclusion....Eloquently told."

Book Description

ANNOTATION

Describes the Florida Everglades, the evolution of this unique area, and the impact humans have had on its once-abundant life forms.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The Florida Everglades is a unique ecosystem — nowhere else in the world can such an environment be found. EVERGLADES tells the story of this living kaleidoscope of color and beauty: from its creation as a blue-green sea through its evolution to a miraculous river, the home of egrets, orchids, and alligators.

Favorite nature writer jean Craighead George spins a mesmerizing tale about the* birth and imminent destruction of the Florida Everglades, while Wendell Minor captures its lush beauty with powerful paintings.

Author Biography:

Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in a family of naturalists, Jean George has centered her life around writing and nature. She attended Pennsylvania State University, graduating with degrees in English and science. In the 1940s she was a member of the White House press corps and a reporter for the Washington Post. Ms. George, who has written over 90 books - among them My Side of the Mountain (Dutton), a 1960 Newbery Honor Book, and its sequels On the Far Side of the Mountain and Frightful's Mountain (both Dutton) - also hikes, canoes, and makes sourdough pancakes. In 1991, Ms. George became the first winner of the School Library Media Section of the New York Library Association's Knickerbocker Award for Juvenile Literature, which was presented to her for the "consistent superior quality" of her literary works.

Her inspiration for the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves evolved from two specific events during a summer she spent studying wolves and tundra at the Arctic Research Laboratory of Barrow, Alaska: "One was a small girl walking the vast ad lonesome tundra outside of Barrow;the other was a magnificent alpha male wolf, leader of a pack in Denali National Park ... They haunted me for a year or more, as did the words of one of the scientists at the lab: 'If there ever was any doubt in my mind that a man could live with the wolves, it is gone now. The wolves are truly gentlemen, highly social and affectionate.'"

The mother of three children, Jean George is a grandmother who has joyfully red to her grandchildren since they were born. Over the years Jean George has kept 173 pets, not including dogs and cats, in her home in Chappaqua, New York. "Most of these wild animals depart in autumn, when the sun changes their behavior and they feel the urge to migrate or go off alone. While they are with us, however, they become characters in my books, articles, and stories."

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

A particularly persuasive evironmental work.

Publishers Weekly

"This haunting plea for the preservation of endangered ecosystems [is] a particularly persuasive environmental work," said PW. Ages 6-9. (May)

Children's Literature - Dr. Judy Rowen

A storyteller teaches five children how the Everglades formed, what plants and animals thrived there, and how man's encroachment is threatening to destroy this "river of grass." The children are unhappy with the sad ending to his tale, but realize that it is their responsibility to change this by protecting the Everglades. Luminous paintings capture the setting perfectly.

Children's Literature - Debra Briatico

In this evocative tale, five children travel through the Florida Everglades by canoe, listening to a well-informed guide describe the evolution of landscape around them. Illustrated with majestic, full-page paintings, this exquisite book celebrates the beauty of the Everglades before humans damaged the ecosystem and encourages readers to restore this endangered environment.

School Library Journal