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The Hummingbird's Gift
When Consuelo saves the hummingbird's lives they, in return, show her how to save her family from the drought
- GenresChildrensPicture Books
1 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 6, 2018
I'm not sure what I thought this was going to be about, just a Mexican legend and I love learning legends. I reserved this for the springtime and had meaning to read it, and since today was Cinco de Mayo, I thought it was fitting to read it today.
It ended up not being what I expected. It seemed like the story was about many different things that didn't really come together in the end. The biggest problem I had with it was that it wasn't very kid-friendly. The audience that would be reading picture books wouldn't be at this reading level or have the attention span required to understand everything. The names were the worst part. Tzintzuntzan. Even though the pronunciation was there (TSEENT soont SAHN) I still wasn't sure how to say it. Or Tarascan Indians. Isidro wasn't very kid-friendly, even though I liked that it was a culturally accurate name.
I didn't find the wheat growing very engaging. It had to ripen and then be harvested. When it was cut it was sold to a mill. There was talk of parched ground and yellowing straw. Idk how invested young kids will be. Also, I thought it could have used a clarification on "burro" because some people might not know that that's another word for donkey.
I did really like the part about Conseulo traveling to the lake to retrieve water and bringing it home to his wife, who made pots by mixing the water with clay. They baked in the sun and her and the kids painted them bright colors like flowers. They filled them with sugar water to attract the hummingbirds, who were dying because they didn't have anything to eat in the drought. I love feeding birds and so it was nice to read about such an inventive way of helping the birds out.
It struck me as amusing as Isidro fed the birds first and only then worried about her kids because the food was running low. I think that could have been worded differently so that it didn't leave the impression that she had worried about the birds before her kids.
The tale took a turn when the hummingbirds brought her straw and then wove them into different figures. She immediately--and too-quickly--caught on that they wanted her to sell the figures at the Day of the Dead Festival. I liked the culture that this was a day to honor the dead by buying gifts for the graves. I did like that they made dancers, musicians, skeletons and other things. I found it way too much that they sold straw and had enough money to last an entire year. A smaller amount of time would have been better and more believable. It was informative in that it mentioned buying food, flowers and candles and cleaning off the graves, telling stories about lost loved ones.
The story ended abruptly. It rained later and every year they made the straw figures and remembered the hummingbird's gift. I wasn't sure if this was a tradition that is still carried on in Mexico, if people weave straw figures today.
The pages were slippery and stuck together, were hard to get a hold of and turn. Twice two pages stuck together and I flipped too far ahead. The artwork was colorful but since everything was so bright it was hard to focus on all of the details in the images, and there were a lot of details to take in. The word iridescent was used, and that's just light years ahead of the reading level for this book.
It ended up not being what I expected. It seemed like the story was about many different things that didn't really come together in the end. The biggest problem I had with it was that it wasn't very kid-friendly. The audience that would be reading picture books wouldn't be at this reading level or have the attention span required to understand everything. The names were the worst part. Tzintzuntzan. Even though the pronunciation was there (TSEENT soont SAHN) I still wasn't sure how to say it. Or Tarascan Indians. Isidro wasn't very kid-friendly, even though I liked that it was a culturally accurate name.
I didn't find the wheat growing very engaging. It had to ripen and then be harvested. When it was cut it was sold to a mill. There was talk of parched ground and yellowing straw. Idk how invested young kids will be. Also, I thought it could have used a clarification on "burro" because some people might not know that that's another word for donkey.
I did really like the part about Conseulo traveling to the lake to retrieve water and bringing it home to his wife, who made pots by mixing the water with clay. They baked in the sun and her and the kids painted them bright colors like flowers. They filled them with sugar water to attract the hummingbirds, who were dying because they didn't have anything to eat in the drought. I love feeding birds and so it was nice to read about such an inventive way of helping the birds out.
It struck me as amusing as Isidro fed the birds first and only then worried about her kids because the food was running low. I think that could have been worded differently so that it didn't leave the impression that she had worried about the birds before her kids.
The tale took a turn when the hummingbirds brought her straw and then wove them into different figures. She immediately--and too-quickly--caught on that they wanted her to sell the figures at the Day of the Dead Festival. I liked the culture that this was a day to honor the dead by buying gifts for the graves. I did like that they made dancers, musicians, skeletons and other things. I found it way too much that they sold straw and had enough money to last an entire year. A smaller amount of time would have been better and more believable. It was informative in that it mentioned buying food, flowers and candles and cleaning off the graves, telling stories about lost loved ones.
The story ended abruptly. It rained later and every year they made the straw figures and remembered the hummingbird's gift. I wasn't sure if this was a tradition that is still carried on in Mexico, if people weave straw figures today.
The pages were slippery and stuck together, were hard to get a hold of and turn. Twice two pages stuck together and I flipped too far ahead. The artwork was colorful but since everything was so bright it was hard to focus on all of the details in the images, and there were a lot of details to take in. The word iridescent was used, and that's just light years ahead of the reading level for this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 2, 2022
چاپ اول نسخه فارسیاش را در ۱۳۷۷، با ترجمه آقای سیروس طاهباز، در ۳۰۰۰۰ نسخه و عیار ۲۵۰ تومان در کتابخانهی دستخورده اما رهاشدهی خالهای که ازدواج کرده و میراثش در خانهی مامانجونم به جا مانده پیدا کردم. کتاب من بود ولی. تصویرهایش یادم بود و طبق معمول تا آن نقطهی عطف داستان حافظهام داستان را لو نداد. چه قدر قشنگ است.
اول درباره نقاشیها، خب با نقاشی ما چه از ما و چه برای ما یا در کتابفروشیهای ما چه در همان سالها و چه الان خیلی فرق دارد. سرخپوستی است شاید. تصویر گر یکی از نویسندگان است. من مدتها به تصویر جادویی آن گلهای نامعمول خیره شدهام و حالا میتوان حدس بزنم چرا اینقدر کشیدن برگها برایم حظ دارد: دور تا دور صفحات کتاب کادر گلها و برگهای درشتیاست که از سادگی درونم رسوخ کرده بوده انگار. و خلاصه نقاشیاش خیلی قشنگ است. متن کتاب چه طور؟ حالا که بزرگ شدهام خوب درک میکنم که چرا مادر اولین نفر است، البته هنوز هم نمیدانم چرا، فقط آشنا شدهام که مادران معمولا اولین نفر هستند وقتی طبیعت دردش میگیرد. مادران واسطهی آموزشاند. هی سعی میکنم کتاب را لو ندهم. یک ایده همین حالا برایم درخشید: این صنایع زیبای دستی که هر صفحهی کتاب اثرش هست، نمایندهی کار و هنر است و انسان در این افسانه نه وسیلهی آموزش کار و هنر به دیگری، که واسطهی آموزش از طبیعتی که جزئی از آن است به دنیای انسانهاست. و این واسطه انسان خوبیاست. اینکه انسان معاصر ایرانی یا کلا انسان مدرن در برابر شخصیتهای افسانهای داستان روستای مرغهای زرینپر چه افسانهای در این داستان کشآمده و رهاشدهی واقعی بیافرینند را نمیدانم. امروز برشت خواندم که میگفت برایش تلاش کن: انسان خوب بودن کافی نیست، ترک کردن دنیای بهتر با مرغهای زرینپر سالم بهتر است.
اول درباره نقاشیها، خب با نقاشی ما چه از ما و چه برای ما یا در کتابفروشیهای ما چه در همان سالها و چه الان خیلی فرق دارد. سرخپوستی است شاید. تصویر گر یکی از نویسندگان است. من مدتها به تصویر جادویی آن گلهای نامعمول خیره شدهام و حالا میتوان حدس بزنم چرا اینقدر کشیدن برگها برایم حظ دارد: دور تا دور صفحات کتاب کادر گلها و برگهای درشتیاست که از سادگی درونم رسوخ کرده بوده انگار. و خلاصه نقاشیاش خیلی قشنگ است. متن کتاب چه طور؟ حالا که بزرگ شدهام خوب درک میکنم که چرا مادر اولین نفر است، البته هنوز هم نمیدانم چرا، فقط آشنا شدهام که مادران معمولا اولین نفر هستند وقتی طبیعت دردش میگیرد. مادران واسطهی آموزشاند. هی سعی میکنم کتاب را لو ندهم. یک ایده همین حالا برایم درخشید: این صنایع زیبای دستی که هر صفحهی کتاب اثرش هست، نمایندهی کار و هنر است و انسان در این افسانه نه وسیلهی آموزش کار و هنر به دیگری، که واسطهی آموزش از طبیعتی که جزئی از آن است به دنیای انسانهاست. و این واسطه انسان خوبیاست. اینکه انسان معاصر ایرانی یا کلا انسان مدرن در برابر شخصیتهای افسانهای داستان روستای مرغهای زرینپر چه افسانهای در این داستان کشآمده و رهاشدهی واقعی بیافرینند را نمیدانم. امروز برشت خواندم که میگفت برایش تلاش کن: انسان خوب بودن کافی نیست، ترک کردن دنیای بهتر با مرغهای زرینپر سالم بهتر است.
April 23, 2010
This is a nice folktale about a family who helps hummingbirds during a drought. They did it even though they were poor, and even though they were suffering and lacked sufficient food and water themselves. And in return the hummingbirds gave them a gift that they would pass down from generation to generation. Nice illustrations and beautiful depictions of woven straw creatures.
December 23, 2007
A beautiful folktale from Mexico about how a woman saved hummingbirds during a drought, and the birds gave the gift of grass doll making to the village. Beautiful retelling and illustrations.
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September 28, 2011mui bueno
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February 1, 2018I believe that it can be a good selection for Hispanic Heritage month. Although, I think a teacher has to stress that this is not a representation of all Hispanic people. These are Hispanic people from a small, rural village and this is how they reacted. Also, I think it could be a great way to introduce the different ways different cultures celebrate holidays. in the end, as long as a teacher shows the students that this is one point of view, and that just like all of them are different so are all Hispanic people different, then I see no reason this could not be taught.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews