Joan Rankin has illustrated over 30 books for children, including the acclaimed The African Orchestra and This is the Chick. She received the South African HAUM Daan Retief Prize for Children's Book Illustration in 1986 and the Katrine Harries Award for Children's Book Illustration in 1991.
Wendy Hartmann has been writing for many years, with more than 40 children's books published, including, most recently, The African Orchestra. Her work ranges from concept and counting, beginner readers, high interest/low vocabulary readers to picture books. Her books have been selected for honor's lists and nominated for awards for writing and illustration. Wendy lives in Cape Town, is married and has two daughters. In her spare time, she paints and has taken part in numerous exhibitions and has works in private collections in South Africa as well as overseas. Joan Rankin has illustrated over 30 books for children, including the acclaimed The African Orchestra. She received the South African HAUM Daan Retief Prize for Children's Book Illustration in 1986 and the Katrine Harries Award for Children's Book Illustration in 1991.
PreS-Gr 2--Nature is music to humans and is celebrated in this
lyrical picture book about Africa's sounds and the instruments used
to re-create them. Hartmann produces harmony and rhythm relying on
rhyming couplets to introduce native flora and fauna. The
prevalence of onomatopoeia helps the verse "snap," "crackle," and
"huummmm," making this an attractive selection for storytime.
Rankin's watercolor illustrations envelop each page gently,
seamlessly intertwining with and reinforcing the text. On one
spread, "We are the herds/that gallop and run/We 'rumble' and
'boo-oom' in the African drum." On the left, brown hands thrum on a
drum, while galloping hooves of bright and varying hues mimic the
same pattern of human arms and sound. One can hear the "rumble" and
"boo-oom" replicated in the drummer's beat. Like Lloyd Moss's Zin!
Zin! Zin! A Violin, this is a great examination of onomatopoeia and
instrumentation, but pair it with Eric Carle's I See a Song for a
true sensory experience. The only minor drawback is a
generalization of Africa inherent in such works. However, it's
worth noting both contributors are native to the continent. VERDICT
A beautiful addition to any library serving young children.--Rachel
Zuffa, Racine Public Library, WI
In simple and magical verse, Hartmann transports readers to the
beautiful landscapes of Africa with a celebration of African music
and instruments and the accompanying splendid natural sounds that
birthed them. Soft mixed-media illustrations with a strong emphasis
on watercolors provide the backdrop for this celebration of African
cultural contributions and the natural wonders that offered their
inspiration. Hartmann eloquently writes, 'In the beginning, when
all things began, these were the sounds which were music to man,
'reminding readers of the long history of Africa as the motherland
for all human beings. Featured in the onomatopoeic orchestra are
the clicking of crickets, the crackle of fire, the 'cr-i-sshh' of
seedpod rattles, the 'hummmm' of honeybees, and the 'rumble' and
'boo-oom' of the hooved animals of the grassland. Birds, frogs, and
zebras are found along with choruses of traditionally dressed
African men and women. 'Through African nights and African days, '
Hartmann emphasizes, 'THIS is the music that the orchestra plays!'
With its onomatopoeia, it's a natural for participatory
read-alouds, perhaps paired with Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin, by Lloyd
Moss and illustrated by Marjorie Priceman (1995), and similar
musical outings. A magical tour of the natural wonders of the
African continent tied with a celebration of the cultural
foundations of African people who mined these sounds to create
beautiful music. (Picture book. 5-8)
Traditional lutes, drums, rattles, and reed flutes join crackling
fires, thundering hooves, and the sounds of the wind in the grass,
singing frogs, crickets, birds, and more that make up the natural
beauty of The African Orchestra. Gentle rhymes and rhythms by Wendy
Hartman build as innovative watercolors from Joan Rankin see the
musicians gather as the seasons change and day turns to night, all
while the wild and hallowed music of Africa plays on.
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