Fiction - Animals - General & Miscellaneous, Poetry - Rhymes, Nursery Rhymes & Fingerplays, Poetry - Basic Concepts & Education, Fiction - Basic Concepts

Down in Louisiana

Name: Down in Louisiana
Author: Johnette Downing
ISBN: 9781589804517

by Johnette Downing, Deborah Ousley Kadair

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Overview

"Offers good storytime possibilities." --School Library Journal

"It is easy to hear the tune as you read the playfully energetic story, and the rhythm is almost irresistible."
--New Orleans Times-Picayune

"A delightful gift that entertains and educates."
--Acadiana LifeStyle

Johnette Downing's first picture book, Today Is Monday in Louisiana, introduces readers to the unusual and delicious foods of Louisiana. Now, Down in Louisiana showcases the natural environment of the bayous, basins, wetlands, live oaks, marshes, and swamps and the creatures who inhabit them.
Readers are encouraged to participate as active observers as they tour the landscape, counting the number of animals on each page. A mother and her pelican one begin the story, and a mosquito and her little skeeters ten conclude it. In between, readers encounter alligators, Catahoula, nutria, possum, crawfish, and more as they swim, bark, eat, climb, fly, sleep, buzz, and snap.

About the Author, Johnette Downing

Deborah Ousley Kadair was trained in the Montessori teaching method and conducts storytelling and illustration workshops for children. She is a talented illustrator of several books with Pelican, including the Today Is Monday Series, Chef Creole, Down in Louisiana, and Grandma's Gumbo, all by author Johnette Downing. Kadair also has written and illustrated her own collection of books, including I Spy in the Louisiana Sky, I Spy in the Texas Sky, and There Was an Ol' Cajun. Kadair lives in Cedar Park, Texas.

Johnette Downing is an award-winning, internationally recognized singer/songwriter. Her many accolades include six Parents' Choice Awards, three iParenting Media Awards, and an Imagination Award, among others. In addition to being the author of Today Is Monday in Louisiana, Today Is Monday in Texas, Chef Creole, and Down in Louisiana, she wrote and illustrated Why the Crawfish Lives in the Mud and My Aunt Came Back from Lousiane, all available from Pelican. When she's not traveling the globe sharing her Louisiana heritage with children of all ages she lives in New Orleans, Louisiana.

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Editorials

School Library Journal

PreS-K This adaptation of "Over in the Meadow" attractively portrays wildlife in Louisiana's bayous and swamps. With rhythmic ease, Downing counts offspring, from "a mother pelican and her pelican one" to a mama mosquito "and her skeeters ten." Similar to the illustrations in Today Is Monday in Louisiana (Pelican, 2006), Kadair's mixed-media collages now include colorful painted backgrounds. The pictures are sometimes a little crowded as the numbers of animals rise, and proportions are somewhat scrambled (e.g., bears and dogs are the same size), but the overall effect is appealing. The appropriate numerals are occasionally hidden in the illustrations. There is no information about the animals, some of which may be unfamiliar to readers (e.g., alligator gars, Catahoula hounds, nutrias). Music is appended. Donna M. Bateman's Deep in the Swamp (Charlesbridge, 2007), a similar book about Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp based on the same traditional song, has finely detailed illustrations and provides information on the flora and fauna pictured. For the most part, the two titles cover different species. Downing's book is directed at younger readers and offers good storytime possibilities.-Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA