Tuesday Storytime: Larger than Life Women

A super-cold day today, so only a few came.  Still, we had a great time!

This is the partner to my "Larger than Life Men" that I did in January.

Dona Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart
Pat Mora, illustrated by Raul Colon
ISBN: 0375823379

This is a bit on the long side for my group, but it's very repetitive, so it's possible to skip over pages without missing anything if you really need to.  We did the whole book today, but if the group was any larger, I was planning to take advantage of that if I had need.  Dona Flor's mother sang to her plants and her child as she raised them, and each ended up being giant sized.  Now Flor lives in a village and tries to be motherly and helpful to her neighbors, especially now that they're menaced by the sounds of an enormous angry puma.  Lovely lovely lovely illustrations, sweet story, and a cute ending - no violence (except an accidental black eye).



Stand Straight, Ella Kate: The True Story of a Real Giant
Kate Klise, illustrated by M. Sarah Klise
ISBN: 9780803734043

Ella Kate was from a small midwestern town, and she grew to be a giant - 8'4" at her tallest!  Thanks to a kind and supportive family, she never felt too down about being oversized, and even went on tour with a traveling circus to earn money and support herself (which was rare for any woman back then).  I love the way the book ended with her coming back home to share stories of her adventures with her friends.



My Mom
Anthony Browne
ISBN: 0374350981

An older book, but a consistently good one for storytimes.  Usually I'd do the short book (which this is) in the middle, but I liked the idea of bringing the theme from fantastical to historical to actual by ending on a family-oriented note.  The repeated use of the floral motif makes for a lovely through-line.  The repeated "very nice" is also sweet.


First Runner Up (not used today, but have in the past and will in future)
Brave Margaret
Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Sally Wen Comport
ISBN: 0689810725

This was also on the long side, so I wouldn't have been able to do both it and Dona Flor.  I went with Flor because I wanted to be at least a little diverse when I can be, and also because of the Spanish vocabulary used.  However, Brave Margaret is a lovely story, and when I do princesses or heroines, she's at the top of my list.  I super-love the illustrations, and I like that Margaret is straightforward about what she wants, and her abilities to do it.
 

Next week?  Owls!

Brave Margaret, Robert D. San Souci, Sally Wern Comport

The last of my current batch of "Clever Princess"- type stories, Brave Margaret is yet another one based on old folktales.

Margaret is a "red woman" with fiery hair, milky skin, cheeks that glow like embers, and eyes blue like hot fire.  She works on her farm until the day a young king comes by looking for kine to supply his ship full of adventurers. 

Adventurers, you say?  Margaret gladly grants the cows, but only if she can come with.  Despite initial protestations, King Simon agrees, and she works as hard and as long as the sailors and adventurers do.

Until the sea serpent attacks.  After that, the duo is separated, and Margaret ends up in a hovel with a weird old crone who's a bit tiched in the head.  There's a sword and ring hanging over the fire, waiting for a champion to take them up and defeat a great evil.

We all know how this is going to go, right?  But, before that, we get to see Simon taught a hard lesson (and perhaps an unfair one) and Margaret learns that she doesn't have to sit on her ass and wait for someone else to be the hero.

Stunning illustrations - all deceptively loose and "primitive" in places, but full of details and strength in colors and lines.  The story flows neatly and straightforwardly, which is a blessing to old Irish folktales which can often wander and get lost in side alleys.  The episodes aren't always explained (why did the sea serpent want Margaret?)  (why didn't the not-really-an-old-crone just get off her ass and kick the evil's butt herself?) but they're thrilling adventures and reasons aren't a strong point in fairy tales anyway.