From Publishers Weekly
In this tale of the sweet and vital bond between Native American great-grandparents and children, Bruchac, a well-known storyteller with Abenaki roots, offers a glimpse into traditional ways through the experience of Jamie, an Abenaki girl who lives near Vermont's Winooski river. One morning, Jamie resists waking and clings to fitful dreams in which she is reunited with her dead great-grandmother. Bruchac's clever device unifies various memories of Grama Bowman: she has taught Jamie to collect berries and to care for the patch ("burn off the dead bushes each year so that new ones will be green"), to peel bark from birch trees to fashion baskets, to follow wildlife signs in the winter woods, to sip maple sap. Primary to this story is the poignancy of lessons whose meanings ripen only with time. The aging woman lovingly and unobtrusively prepares her great-granddaughter for their inevitable separation, telling Jamie that when she sees the fox she will think of Grama Bowman. A delicate secondary theme is the unusual parental sympathy for Jamie's lazy morning--her mother and father understand the healing power of dreams. Through an appropriately autumnal palette, Morin's oil paintings on canvas echo the texture of Abenaki artifacts: birch bark and sticks, leather, carved bone, drying leaves. Ages 4-up.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4-Jamie, grieving over the death of her great-grandmother, remembers and describes some of the special times they shared. Grama Bowman, an Abenaki, told her stories and taught her about "'our old Indian way.'" Memories of gathering berries, birch bark for baskets, or sap for maple sugar, activities that brought them together and close to nature are related. She recalls seeing the tracks of a fox and her grama telling her, "'When you are out here and I am not with you, you keep your eyes open. You might see her and when you do, you will think of me.'" The elderly woman's wise words and an Abenaki song of greeting help the girl cope with her loss. When Jamie sings the song in the woods, she sees a fox and knows that she will "...never be alone." Morin's oil paintings are both realistic and textured. The characters' faces are depicted lovingly but without idealism. The palette is rich and warm, in mostly autumnal tones, but with spring and winter accents. Strong artwork and multiple themes compensate for the rather pat ending.
Patricia Dooley, formerly at University of Washington, SeattleCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
