The Little Island
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Overview
Once there was a little island in the ocean. That little island changes as the seasons come and go. The storm and the day and night change it. So do the lobsters and seals and gulls that stop by. Then one day a kitten visits the little island and learns a secret that every child will enjoy.Depicts the changes that occur on a small island as the seasons come and go, as day changes to night, and as a storm approaches.
Synopsis
There is a little island in the ocean—and this book is about how it is on that little island, how the seasons and the storm and the day and night change it, how the lobsters and seals and gulls and everything else live on it, and what the kitten who comes to visit finds out about it.
Publishers Weekly
Several old favorites are being reissued this month. The Caldecott Medal-winning The Little Island by Margaret Wise Brown, illus. by Leonard Weisgard, tells about the seasons and animals that touch a small island ("There was a little Island in the ocean./ Around it the winds blew/ And the birds flew/ And the tides rose and fell on the shore"), and a kitten who comes ashore learns a secret about the island and a lesson about faith. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Several old favorites are being reissued this month. The Caldecott Medal-winning The Little Island by Margaret Wise Brown, illus. by Leonard Weisgard, tells about the seasons and animals that touch a small island ("There was a little Island in the ocean./ Around it the winds blew/ And the birds flew/ And the tides rose and fell on the shore"), and a kitten who comes ashore learns a secret about the island and a lesson about faith. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
When first published in 1947, this timeless book won the Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children. It was originally published under the pseudonym Golden MacDonald and was one of over 100 books written by the author. With its spare wording and watercolor scenes, the book depicts the vibrancy of life on an island far out at sea. The words lap across the pages in a lyrical rhythm—if not with any rhyme—as the island takes its place in nature. The island is subject to the changes of the seasons, shifting weather patterns, and the passage of time. We hear of "spiders sailing their webs" and meet a visiting kitten who describes himself as "a little island in the air"; we see "waves as big as glassy mountains," and we feel the tug and the sway of changing patterns. The book, like the tale of the island it rejoices, is mesmerizing in its celebration of life and the world. 2003, Doubleday, Ages 5 to 8.— Susan Schott Karr