Savina, the Gypsy Dancer

Tompert, Ann; Nolan, Dennis

ISBN 10: 0027892050 ISBN 13: 9780027892055

Publisher: Atheneum, 1991

Synopsis

Savina, a gypsy girl, captivates everyone with her remarkable dancing and arouses the jealousy and hatred of King Walid

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 4-- Daughter of a Gypsy chief, Savina captivates all who see her with the joyous spirit of her dancing. King Walid, alone, is not charmed, fearing the power she exerts over his people. When Savina refuses to submit to his control, Walid persecutes the Gypsies to force her surrender, first seizing their horses, then their tents, then denying them their livelihood. But the Gypsies value freedom above all, and Walid and all his troops fail utterly to quell their spirit. The brooding, sensuous quality of Tompert's story is enhanced by Nolan's paintings--forceful tableaux in rich tones and deep shadows, dramatically lit now by a touch of moonlight, now by a fire's glow. Unfortunately, his compositions are inappropriately static, his figures stiffly posed. Similarly, Tompert's prose plods where it ought to dance--there is little joy to it, little life. Somehow author and artist seem to have lost touch with the dynamism central to Savina's story, leaving readers with a handsome volume that broadly and consistently misses its mark. --Marcia Hupp, Mamaroneck Public Library, NY
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Atheneum
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0027892050
• ISBN 13: 9780027892055
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Nolan Dennis