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Searching... Monmouth Public Library | J 398.2 KIMMEL | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
This swashbuckling tall tale of seafaring adventure will appeal to sailors and landlubbers alike. Eric A. Kimmel's original tale of the Pacific Northwest is beautifully illustrated by Michael Steirnagle's colorful pastels. Full color.
Author Notes
Eric Kimmel was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1946. He received a bachelor's degree in English Literature from Lafayette College. He also has a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Illinois.
He was an elementary school teacher and college professor before becoming a full-time writer. He has published over fifty titles, many of which have won state and national awards. His titles "Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins" won the Caldecott Honor Medal, "The Chanukkah Guest" and "Gershon's Monster" won the Sydney Taylor Picture Book Award and "Anansi and the Talking Melon" won the Utah Children's Choice Award.
Kimmel travels nationally and internationally visiting schools and talking about his books and telling stories.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-4-Born to seafaring parents in Oregon, Billy Lazroe has "salt water in his veins" and goes to sea at age 14. Throughout his travels, he is comforted by his love of music. One night, his song is so beautiful that Davy Jones sends him a bag of gold, insisting that Billy play for his shipmates in Davy Jones's locker. Horrified, Billy postpones the bargain. He sails for seven years-until Davy Jones reappears, and Billy follows him to the bottom of the sea, sure that his life is over. Instead, Davy allows him to chose one of his daughters as a bride, with the warning that Billy never look back at her until they reach home port. When danger threatens, however, he turns to protect her and she disappears. Brokenhearted, he tells his story to the sailors in Erickson's Saloon and then disappears, but his voice is still heard on stormy nights. Steirnagle's thick chalk drawings enhance the mood of the tale with their rich textures and deep hues. The artist varies the point of view and the placement of the text on each page, so that each large illustration is a rhythmic focal point for the storyteller's voice. Kimmel's retelling of a Russian tale rings true to its American setting but has elements of older myths and stories that speak of the special bond between sailor and sea.-Barbara Kiefer, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
The prolific Kimmel (see also One Eye, Two Eyes, Three Eyes, reviewed above) lets the creative juices flow in his Oregonian version of an old Russian seafaring tale. As always, the storytelling is tight, but this tale is awash in moodiness and detail so convincing that readers can almost smell the saltwater. The sailor Billy Lazroe, who "arrived in the world with salt water in his veins," is commanded by Davy Jones, the King of the Sea, to play the concertina for the unfortunate souls in his locker. Lazroe resists for seven years, but is finally compelled to visit. There, beneath the sea, he wins the hand of Davy Jones's beautiful daughter, only to lose her in an Orpheus-like moment. In his debut, Steirnagle mirrors the shivery qualities of the tale with dark, smoky, moody pastels and effectively uneasy, off-balance compositions. His subtly mystical illustrations plus Kimmel's evocative language add up to a pleasantly hair-raising read-aloud. Ages 5-8. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Billy's music earns him favors from the King of the Sea, but eventually -- though he is afraid to go -- Billy must give a command performance underneath the ocean. Taking inspiration from a Russian folktale, Kimmel creates a version of the story about a well-traveled sailor who loves the Willamette River in Oregon. The dark-toned pastel illustrations, featuring a huge green sea king, capture the seafaring atmosphere of the tale. From HORN BOOK 1996, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Gr. 2^-4, younger for reading aloud. Kimmel sets an old Russian tale in his native Oregon at the turn of the century. From the beginning we know that Billy Lazroe loves the sea, but he also fears "the blue-green waters that one day would become his grave." As a seafarer, he travels the world, and his music is so beautiful that Davy Jones, the King of the Sea, wants Billy to come and make music in his kingdom beneath the ocean. Billy stalls the king and sails the seas for seven years, but then the king comes for him, and Billy finds himself with all the world's brave, drowned sailors in Davy Jones' locker. The king's daughter, the sweet river Willamette, becomes Billy's bride, but when she can't follow him to Portland, he disappears--and some say he is still singing down there in the river he loves. Kimmel's lyrical text, quite long for a picture-book story, has a strong sense of frontier adventure, and Steirnagle's glowing pastels capture the wildness and yearning of the characters on the ships and in the mysterious world at the bottom of the sea. --Hazel Rochman