Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
---|---|---|
Searching... Monmouth Public Library | GERSTEIN | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Carolinda Clatter is born noisy in a place where, legend says, loud noise will wake a sleeping giant and bring destruction. Her tale, and that of an old giant hopelessly on love with the icy moon, are told in this lovely new picture book by the 2004 Caldecott Medal winner. It's an energetic and touching story about a spirited child, the power of self-expression, and the mysterious ability of music to transform and soothe us, set out in rich, ebullient pictures.
Author Notes
Mordicai Gerstein was born in Los Angeles, California in 1935. He attended the Chouinard Art Institute in California. He designed and directed animated films for twenty-five years. In 1970, he met author Elizabeth Levy, who asked him to illustrate her children's book Something Queer Is Going On. He has illustrated all of the books in her Something Queer series. He decided to try his hand at writing. His first picture book, Arnold of the Ducks, was published in 1980 and adapted into an animated film. He has also retold many ancient religious stories, such as that of Jonah in his book, Jonah and the Two Great Fish. He has won many awards including 2 CINE Golden Eagle Awards from the International Film and Television Festival of New York.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-4-The last giant on Earth has fallen hopelessly in love with the moon. Despite his desperate entreaties, which last for 5000 years, the moon ignores him. In despair, he lies down and weeps for another 10,000 years. Hugene eventually falls asleep and is gradually transformed into a grassy mountain. One hundred thousand years later, people build a town on him, but they live in total silence so as not to wake him. When Carolinda Clatter is born, however, she makes noise of every kind, despite everyone's warnings. "But the bigger she grew, the louder she got." The giant awakens, and she is sent to put him back to sleep. Carolinda convinces Hugene that he is now a mountain and cannot dance to her songs. She also convinces him that he is loved by the people living on him as well as by the moon. The now-contented giant falls back to sleep, never to wake again, and the townspeople are free to be as noisy as they like. Gerstein's expert artwork conveys both the melancholy aspect of the lovesick giant as well as the peaceful dreamlike state he eventually attains. The book is thoughtfully designed, with small panels showing the passage of time, and full spreads highlighting momentous events. The plot, however, is problematic, as Carolinda's claims that the giant is now loved conflicts with the fact that the townspeople exist in fearful silence, and the moon remains oblivious to Hugene except in his dreams. This is a lovely but flawed endeavor.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Caldecott Medalist Gerstein (The Man Who Walked Between the Towers) introduces Hugene, a bearded giant who falls in love with the moon. In a series of swirly, blue-hued illustrations, the smitten fellow dances and sings desperate "tra-las" in an attempt to woo the moon. Spurned, Hugene falls into a deep sleep: "His eyes became two ponds. His tears became two waterfalls. His beard and the hair on his head became forests." Over time, a group of people establish Pupicktown on his belly: "Babies didn't cry and children were afraid to scream and yell because everyone said, `Shhhh! You'll wake the giant.' " Then, in a cacophonous spread, Carolinda Clatter is born. Gerstein marries riotous color, scrawled ink lines and a chorus of handwritten "Wah!"s to dramatize the change that comes over Pupicktown. Carolinda, an adventurous orange-haired heroine in the tradition of Pippi Longstocking, yells and laughs and "she sang all the time." Eventually, she does wake the giant, who thanks her for "the beautiful music." Carolinda, in turn, tells the giant how many people "need you and love you," before singing him happily back to sleep. With its echoes of Scandinavian folk legends, the story celebrates music, love and noise. But it's the joyous illustrations that make this book so deserving of a loud round of applause. Ages 5-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Primary) Gerstein brings his spirited storytelling style to this original fable about ""a lonely giant who fell in love with the moon."" The first few double-page spreads span thousands of years as the lovesick giant attempts to woo the uninterested moon. The pages' blue hues give way to green as the disheartened giant, now sleeping, is transformed into the earth itself over the course of many more thousands of years. Gerstein's expressive watercolors, with their spare hatching, effectively portray the giant's metamorphosis. ""After a hundred thousand years,"" people build a town on the giant's belly. The citizens of Pupickton do not wish to rouse the slumbering giant and incur his possible wrath, so ""Pupickton [became] a very quiet town."" Well, quiet until Carolinda Clatter, who ""was born NOISY,"" comes on the scene and Gerstein's palette erupts in an explosion of colorful ""WAH!""s; the bright red of Carolinda's curly hair also poses a challenge to the previous spectrum of cool tones. Although the story is rather sprawling and bifurcated, Gerstein creates in Carolinda a hero whose love of song and dance both saves the town and gives the giant some long-deserved peace. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
"Once there was a lonely giant who fell in love with the moon. He was the very last giant, and there was no one else large enough for him to love." So begins Gerstein's century-spanning fairy tale, exquisitely illustrated with expressive, whimsical, scratchy ink drawings drenched in blue moonlight or yellow sunlight. The love-struck giant, after wooing the unresponsive moon for centuries, finally falls asleep, weeping, sleeping so long he becomes a mountainous landscape upon which a village called Pupickton (pupik is Yiddish for belly button) is built on his stomach. Heeding the legend that its beloved mountain is literally a sleeping giant, the village remains very quiet ("the only sounds were whispers and the purring of cats") until the irrepressibly musical Carolinda Clatter is born. When her exuberance finally wakens the giant, she alone must save Pupickton from his wrath. Happily, she wins him over, music and noise fill the air and the giant peacefully sleeps forevermore, finally feeling loved and dreaming of the moon. Refreshingly, marvels trump morals in this lovely, larger-than-life legend. (Picture book. 5-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
PreS-Gr. 2. In his first picture book since the 2003 Caldecott Medal winner The Man Who Walked between the Towers, Gerstein offers a winning tall tale about a lonely giant who fell in love with the moon. In full-spread and panel illustrations, Gerstein shows the infatuated giant singing beneath a coolly unimpressed moon. Finally, the mournful giant lies down, and for thousands of years he sleeps and weeps, grass and trees covering his body, until a town, Pupickton (a play on the Yiddish word for bellybutton), forms over his stomach. Afraid of waking the giant beneath, the townspeople live in near silence. Then little Carolinda Clatter is born and shatters the town's hush: I can't help it . . . I love noise! Eventually, she rouses the giant, and after tense negotiations, she helps him reconcile his affections for the moon. Thereafter, the town lives noisily and freely, singing its giant to sleep every evening with lullabies. The story may be a bit too long to hold restless children, but Gerstein tells his whimsical tale with direct humor, and his lovely paint-and-ink illustrations extend the comedy in scenes of the dancing giant and bucolic Pupickton, a silhouette of the snoring giant's open mouth on the town's horizon. Most of all, children will cheer for wild-haired, exuberant Carolinda, who defies adult rules and heals the giant's heart with joyful noise. --Gillian Engberg Copyright 2005 Booklist