The Little Island (Dell Picture Yearling) Read Free Books and Download eBooks
Once there was a little island in the ocean. That little island changes as the seasons come and go. The storm and the day and night change it. So do the lobsters and seals and gulls that stop by. Then one day a kitten visits the little island and learns a secret that every child will enjoy.
Lexile Measure: 590L (What's this?)
Series: Dell Picture Yearling
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: Dragonfly Books; Reissue edition (October 1, 1993)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 044040830X
ISBN-13: 978-0440408307
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 0.2 x 7.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #30,394 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #184 in Books > Children's Books > Animals > Cats #282 in Books > Children's Books > Education & Reference > Science Studies > Nature #549 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works
Age Range: 3 - 7 years
Grade Level: Preschool - 2
You may not recognize the author's name. But do you know that Golden MacDonald was a pen name for Margaret Wise Brown of Goodnight Moon fame? The text of this book captures the subtle rhythms of her appreciation for nature, and the connections that all beings and objects in nature have with one another. The book also won a Caldecott Medal for its shimmering and tingling watercolors. The images create a mood of the perpetual essence of nature, and our connections to one another through the blue-green and grey palettes used.Children's books often contain more themes and important messages than 400 page novels. The Little Island is one of the great masterpieces in achieving that remarkable accomplishment.The book covers the four seasons as they affect the little island and the plants and animals that visit the island. To show the on-going nature of the process, the book's time line expands beyond a single year.The island is described as being:"A part of the worldand a world of its ownall surrounded by the bright blue sea."On the island, you will connect with birds, tides, clouds, fish, fogs, spiders, flowers, lobsters, seals, kingfishers, gulls, wild strawberries, butterflies, herring, mackerel, seaweed, pears, a black crow, a little kitten on a boat, trees, bushes, rocks, moths, an owl, a storm, snow, the sun, wind, and rain.The connection to Donne is made in the context of the kitten visitor to the island. "May be I am an island too . . . a little fur Island in the air."The connections run in all directions. The kitten learns from the island that the island is connected to all of the other land. When the kitten doubts the island about this point, the island suggests asking a fish.
None of the reviews here seem to "get" the aspect of the book that struck me the most. We just received The Little Island as a gift for our two-year-old daughter's birthday. I had never heard of the book before, but Margaret Wise Brown is one of my favorite children's authors. My daughter is still too young for this book, but when I read it myself for the first time I was struck with wonder at how different, beautiful, and magical is was, and it made me cry.Other reviewers have noted the descriptions of plants and wildlife, and yes, these aspects are beautiful. But the "meat" of the book is when a cat comes to the island with its people on a boat, and learns that the island is much more than it seems. The pages describing the cat's journey to knowledge are magical. The cat thinks that the island doesn't matter much, because it's not connected to the world around it. 'Yes I am', says the island; 'ask the fish'. The cat catches a fish and demands to know how the island is part of the bigger land. 'Come with me', says the fish. 'I cannot swim', says the cat. 'Then you will have to take it on faith', says the fish. 'What is that - faith?' asks the cat. "Faith is to believe what I tell you about what you don't know", says the fish. (That line almost knocked me over; what a wonderful piece of writing!) "All lands are one land under the sea", says the fish. The cat realizes he has learned a great truth, and his eyes "were shining with the secret of it, and because he loved secrets, he let the fish go". Then the cat leaves the island, and the island settles back into the timeless cycle of the seasons.Like Margaret Wise Brown's other books, this one looks at the world with a sense of wonder and discovery, and maybe makes both parent and child see things with a new set of eyes.
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