Dog-of-the-Sea-Waves - Hardcover

Master storyteller James Rumford combines his love for art and history in his picture books. Each of his books is vastly different in its content, design, and illustrations but one aspect remains constant throughout his work: his passion about his subjects. Rumford, a resident of Hawaii, has studied more than a dozen languages and worked in the Peace Corps, where he traveled to Africa, Asia, and Afghanistan. He draws from these experiences and the history of his subject when he is working on a book. His book Sequoyah: The Cherokee Man Who Gave His People Writing was a 2005 Sibert Honor winner.

Kindergarten-Grade 3–This atmospheric story continues the tale begun in The Island-below-the-Star (Houghton, 1998) of five Polynesian brothers who "discovered" the Hawaiian Islands. This time, the youngest, Manu, spots what he thinks is a wounded dog near the water's edge. Closer inspection reveals it to be a seal. After nursing the animal back to health, Manu and Dog-of-the-Sea-Waves play together and make mischief while the older brothers prepare for the long journey home. When they set sail at last and stop at one of the islands in the chain, an earthquake erupts and general chaos ensues. Manu is lost at sea, and his "dog" appears to rescue him. This story, unlike the first, lacks a clear focus and tends to meander from one notion to another. The expressive watercolor illustrations help to tell the tale. However, they, too, ramble a bit aimlessly, with one blue-purple wash after another. A regional natural history element is introduced on most spreads, giving readers a taste of Hawaii's diverse flora and fauna. An afterword gives a summary of each organism. The Hawaiian text is appended. Although reading like a legend, Dog-of-the-Sea-Waves is, after all, a fictitious account pieced together. Readers will need to look elsewhere for Polynesian migration theories and traditional tales.–Harriett Fargnoli, Great Neck Library, NY
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