Diane Wolkstein - Books A-L

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BOOKS [A-L] "Diane Wolkstein is surely one of the great storytellers of the 20th Century, and what she brings to this most ancient of all arts is a deep understanding of the ways of the heart matched with exquisite craftsmanship and unmatchable passion for and skill with language." Jean Houston.
ABULAFIA, PART OF MY HEART - DREAMSONGS Cloudstone, New York City, 1991. Softbound. ISBN 1-879846-03-9. An interweaving of stories and songs recounting the adventure of the soul. "We read, listening as one listens to fairytales, compelled as are the protagonists of those tales to follow where they are mysteriously bidden, and because the telling is shaped, rhymed, and shared by an artist, vestiges of our own dream-history are stirred into recollection." Denise Levertov. "In this vivid and remarkable series of dreams reminiscent of the parables of Kafka and Calvino, Ablulafia [a great sage of the 13th Century] slowly reveals himself." - Howard Schwartz.
THE BANZA Illustrated by Marc Brown. Penguin-Dial, New York City, 1984. Paperback and hardcover, out of print. ISBN 0-8037-0428-3. Please e-mail us to order this book by mail. A story of friendship between a small goat and a tiger in which the courage to sing the story of one's heart brings freedom. Featured on the PBS television programs Reading Rainbow and Storytime. Also available as: THE LITTLE BANJO Illustrated by Marc Brown. Scholastic, New York City, 2000. Paperback. ISBN 0-439-18023-6. Also on Scholastic audio cassette, ISBN 0-439-18040-6. "Excellent for sharing with groups." - School Library Journal. All ages.
BOUKI DANCES THE KOKIOKO Illustrated by Jesse Sweetwater. Harcourt, San Diego, California, 1997. Hardbound. ISBN 0-15-200034-8. In this comical tale from Haiti, awkward Bouki wins the dance contest while sly Malice walks away with the prize. Bouki has often been performed in school by children as a play. Aesop's Accolade Book. First through Third Grades. Bouki Dances the Kokioko has also published in Norwegian, in a collection by the Norwegian princess Martha Louises called Fairy Tales from the Heart of the World (Bazar Tales, Oslo, 2007).
THE COOL RIDE IN THE SKY Illustrated by Paul Galdone. Random House, New York City, hardbound. Out of print. A monkey takes a buzzard for a cool ride in the sky and protects his friends. Based on the Black American folktale, "Straighten Up and Fly Right." "An instant success at story hours." - Children's Book Review Service. "A parable on human nature." - The New York Times. Pre-Kindergarten through Eight Grade.
THE DAY OCEAN CAME TO VISIT Illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher. Harcourt-Gulliver, San Diego, California, 2001, hardbound. ISBN 0-15-201774-7. Why are Sun and Moon in the sky? "Sun's wife, Moon, suggests that Sun invite Ocean to visit, [but they] are driven out of their home and into the sky by Ocean's huge, teeming presence.... The shining spheres of Sun and Moon actually sit atop graceful bodies clad in long, simple robes. Ocean flows into their bamboo dwelling over peaceful, carefully kept gardens, and multiple layers of thinly-applied oil paint add richly modulated light and color to each illustration." Kirkus Reviews. "Wolkstein's lilting tale explains how the sun, moon and stars came to be in the sky. She imbues the narrative with gentleness and humor. Children will anxiously anticipate Ocean's entrance, and both text and illustrations may exceed their expectations...This is poetry in both words and pictures." Publisher's Weekly. The New York Public Library's Anne Carroll Moore Book for 2001, and one of the NYPL's Recommended Books of 2001. *Open the book...* *Purchase the book at Amazon.com...*
ESTHER'S STORY Illustrated by Juan Wijngaard. HarperCollins, New York City, 1996, paperback. ISBN 0-688-15844-7. Hardcover edition out of print - Please e-mail us to order this book by mail. In diary form, Esther describes how she risks her life to save her people. Jewel-like Persian miniature illustrations. "Wijngaard's lavish illustrations and Wolkstein's narration breathe new humanity into this grand and glorious story, introducing to all children the power of self-sacrifice." - Publisher's Weekly.> "The diary format confers immediacy; readers share the loneliness, fears, and determinations of this legendary heroine." - Kirkus Reviews. Aesop's Accolade and Sydney Taylor Library Award recipient. Recommended for all ages and religious backgrounds.
THE FIRST LOVE STORIES: From Isis & Osiris to Tristan & Iseult HarperCollins, New York City, 1991, hardbound and softbound. Out of print - Please e-mail us to order this book by mail. Japanese edition published by Iwanami Shoten. Each of these seven stories, mysterious testaments to the passion and compassion in the human spirit, expresses a different aspect of love. "Isis and Osiris" embodies love that is stronger than the forces of nature. "Inanna and Dumuzi" explores the cyclical quality of love. "Shiva and Sati" portrays the explosion of passion and the taming of the mind. "The Song of Songs" suggests the sensuous, yearning quality of love. "Psyche and Eros" presents the forging of the psyche. "Layla and Majnun" reveals the path of the soul. "Tristan and Iseult" expresses the struggle between personal and community loyalty. "[The First Love Stories] evoke love in its original state, as a sacred and therefore dangerous power that can never be domesticated, though it fires the hearth. Diane Wolkstein has directed her considerable talents as a storyteller to a creative rendition of the lore and literature of love." The New York Times. "In these classic stories, love is of a cosmic dimension, involving the gods and goddesses, the cycles of nature, and the forces of grief, revenge, death, forgiveness, and rebirth." - Booklist.
THE GLASS MOUNTAIN Illustrated by Louisa Bauer. HarperCollins, 1999, hardbound. Out of print - Please e-mail us to order this book by mail. The princess falls into a glass mountain, and is imprisoned by Old Rinkrank. After rescuing herself, she and her belovéd create a welcoming garden for all beings. "Wolkstein's imaginative, easy-to-follow adaptation of [the Brothers Grimm's tale "Old Rinkrank"] delivers a spunky heroine while remaining true to traditional fairy-tale hallmarks." - Publisher's Weekly. "Wolkstein makes the story her own...gearing it for modern sensibilities without diminishing it... a precise balance of economy and detail." School Library Journal.
INANNA, QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND EARTH Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer Co-authored by Samuel Noah Kramer Illustrated with the artwork from Sumer, with notes by Elizabeth Forte. HarperCollins, New York, 1983, softbound. ISBN 0-06090854-8. A hardback edition is also available - Please e-mail us to order it by mail. Also published as: Il Mito Sumero (Italian edition), Edizioni Jaca, 1984. Inanna (Swedish edition), Trevi, 1995. Inanna (Norwegian edition), Glydendahl, 2000. De Weg van Inanna (unauthorized Dutch version), Uitgeverij van Halewyck, 1999. Inanna, Nedstigning: Texter kring en myt (unauthorized Swedish edition), Arak, year unknown. The five thousand year-old epic of the great goddess, following her lifestory - adolescence, courtship, descent into the Underworld, and rebirth. "It is Inanna, the oldest story of all we know, who alone spans the whole of the mythic life." - Scientific American. "An admirable translation, a great masterpiece of universal literature." - Mircea Eliade. "Inanna is the result of S.N. Kramer's long work of collecting and translating Sumerian cuneiform tablets. This raw material was taken by Diane Wolkstein, who, with both knowledge and mythologist and folklorist and skill as storyteller, ordered, welded, and polished it into an understandable literary whole, giving to us the most ancient, full story cycle of any goddess... The timeless quest for god, soul, and meaning lifts this tale from the exclusive ancient possession of the Sumerians and, through Wolkstein's art, makes it our own." National Storytelling Journal. Ballet: choreographer Marsha Knight University of Wyoming at Laramie in March and April, 2001 Opera: composer Louis Andriessen, librettists Hal Hartley and Th. J. H. Krispijn Premiere: October, 2003 at Transformatorhuis Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam Text available from Boosey & Hawkes Opera: Descent of Inanna Composer: Marcia Burchard Dominican University of California, Rafael, California 2005 *Purchase the book at Amazon.com...*
LAZY STORIES Illustrated by James Marshall. The Seabury Press, New York, 1976, hardbound. Out of print. Three humorous folktales from Japan ("Hiroko"), Mexico ("The Tatema"), and Laos ("The Fig-Tree Beggar and the Willful Princess") capture the essence of laziness with its problems and pleasures. Storyteller's notes are included. "I've always been fascinated by laziness, which we regard as a vice, but can be seen as an important time to reflect, to decide what work is really worth doing." - The Capitol Times, Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A. All ages - especially Third and Fourth Grades.
LITTLE MOUSE'S PAINTING Illustrated by Maryjane Begin. North-South Books USA, New York, 2002, hardcover. ISBN 1-58717-124-4. Also available in paperback, ISBN 1-58717-125-2. First published by William Morrow & Co., New York, in 1992. Afrikaans edition published by Mike Jacklin/Knowledge Unlimited. Little Mouse paints a painting, and all her friends think they see themselves in her painting. "Wolkstein offers a unique story with depth and nuance." Booklist. "Wolkstein's expressive straightforward narrative and Begin's beautiful, luminous illustrations produce an insightful look at friendship and creativity." - School Library Journal. "The appealing story delivers its message without insistence; the imaginative paintings, burgeoning with delightful detail, are exquisite." - Kirkus Reviews. Recommended for all ages, especially Kindergarten through Third Grade. Honorable Mention Bologna - First Place Graphics; three-star reviews from Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, and School Library Journal. Read more about this book...

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