In the Small, Small Night
Jane Kurtz, Rachel IsadoraBooks.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
In the middle of the night the world can seem huge andfrightening, especially when you've just moved far from home. On Abena and Kofi's first night in America, it is late and it is dark and they are up worrying. What if a giant lizard or a slender-snouted crocodile crawled into their suitcases? What if the people in their new school laugh at them? What if they forget Grandmother and their cousins, now that they are an ocean away?
But Abena knows a secret to help them. It is a secret that can make the world and the night seem small again. She reaches for her new flashlight and turns it on. She says to her little brother, Kofi, "Pretend this is the moon. Close your eyes." And then she begins ...
Kofi can't sleep in his new home in the United States, so his older sister Abena soothes his fears about life in a different country by telling him two folktales from their native Ghana about the nature of wisdom and perseverance.
Synopsis
In the middle of the night the world can seem huge and frightening, especially when you've just moved far from home. On Abena and Kofi's first night in America, it is late and it is dark and they are up worrying. What if a giant lizard or a slender-snouted crocodile crawled into their suitcases? What if the people in their new school laugh at them? What if they forget Grandmother and their cousins, now that they are an ocean away?
But Abena knows a secret to help them. It is a secret that can make the world and the night seem small again. She reaches for her new flashlight and turns it on. She says to her little brother, Kofi, "Pretend this is the moon. Close your eyes." And then she begins ...
Publishers Weekly
In Kurtz's (Fire on the Mountain) reassuring bedtime tale, a girl puts her younger brother at ease in a strange place with stories from their homeland. It's their family's first night in America after emigrating from Ghana, and Abena's little brother, Kofi, won't let her sleep. To reassure Kofi and to regain her own sense of confidence, Abena tells two stories, one about Anansi, the other an Aesop-like fable. With each one, Isadora (Ben's Trumpet) shifts the setting from Abena's bedroom, bathed in the deep blue and lavender hues of night, to sunbaked landscapes of West Africa. The first story finds the trickster Anansi with worries of his own, which he tries to assuage by hoarding the world's wisdom in a pot; in the second, a determined turtle proves that no obstacle is too great when a friend is in need. Kurtz beautifully captures the way an age-old oral tradition emerges in the lilting, playful cadences of Abena's voice. "Don't worry," she says, when Kofi asks whether Anansi is going to play a trick on them. "If he is, we're ready. I'm very tricky, myself." But what really shines through, thanks to Isadora's velvety pastels, is the us-against-the-world bond between the siblings. Their physical ease with one another, and the warmth that passes back and forth between their dark eyes, make the old clich ring true: home is where the heart is. Ages 5-up. (Jan.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
In Kurtz's (Fire on the Mountain) reassuring bedtime tale, a girl puts her younger brother at ease in a strange place with stories from their homeland. It's their family's first night in America after emigrating from Ghana, and Abena's little brother, Kofi, won't let her sleep. To reassure Kofi and to regain her own sense of confidence, Abena tells two stories, one about Anansi, the other an Aesop-like fable. With each one, Isadora (Ben's Trumpet) shifts the setting from Abena's bedroom, bathed in the deep blue and lavender hues of night, to sunbaked landscapes of West Africa. The first story finds the trickster Anansi with worries of his own, which he tries to assuage by hoarding the world's wisdom in a pot; in the second, a determined turtle proves that no obstacle is too great when a friend is in need. Kurtz beautifully captures the way an age-old oral tradition emerges in the lilting, playful cadences of Abena's voice. "Don't worry," she says, when Kofi asks whether Anansi is going to play a trick on them. "If he is, we're ready. I'm very tricky, myself." But what really shines through, thanks to Isadora's velvety pastels, is the us-against-the-world bond between the siblings. Their physical ease with one another, and the warmth that passes back and forth between their dark eyes, make the old clich ring true: home is where the heart is. Ages 5-up. (Jan.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
Abena tries to reassure her little brother Kofi when he cannot sleep for worrying about what may happen to them in America. She recalls for him the stories told by the storyteller back in their village in Ghana. The first tale is of tricky Anansi, who tries to take all the wisdom of the world away in a pot, but is foiled by his wise young son. The next is of how turtle tricks vulture, who has teased him. Finally, as she is carrying him to bed, Kofi turns the tables on her, dispelling her fears of being teased in their new country by reminding her of the lessons in the story and of their family togetherness. For as she falls asleep she knows that the stars she sees walking across the sky will be seen by her family in Ghana as well. Isadora uses her pastels to model characters, to depict the loving sibling relationship as well as the lively Anansi and the rich, warm African setting. The animals, like turtle and vulture, are also full of strong emotional content. Her full-page scenes are loaded with a pulsating sense of vitality, even to the final page of Abena sleeping with a parade of toy animals behind her pillow. In a note, the author explains the source of the stories and the inspiration for the book. 2005, Amistad/HarperCollins Publishers, and Ages 5 to 8.—Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz