Hana in the Time of the Tulips - Hardcover

Noyes, Deborah

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0763618756 ISBN 13: 9780763618759

Publisher: Candlewick, 2004

Synopsis

With stunning artwork reminiscent of Rembrandt, this tender tale harks back to the days of tulip fever to illuminate the enduring love between father and child.

Hana and her father used to love to walk in the garden in the evening and play their favorite game — the one where Hana is a Renowned Physician and Papa pretends to faint dead away on the bench. But ever since tulip fever struck Holland, Hana's father has been consumed by greed. Soon he is too busy to walk in the garden or kiss Hana good night or even realize how lovely the tulips are. Even worse, the tulip market is crashing, and now Papa is falling into despair. It's up to Hana — with a little help from the painter Rembrandt, a family friend — to find a way to remind her father of what's truly valuable and bring him back to his family. Luxurious illustrations by virtuoso painter Bagram Ibatoulline bring seventeenth-century Holland to life in this poignant portrait of the persistence of love.

About this title

About the Author:

Deborah Noyes writes for children and adults. Of HANA IN THE TIME OF THE TULIPS, she says, "I'm fascinated by the seventeenth century in general, but just before I wrote this story, I was reading a lot of adult fiction and nonfiction about tulipomania, and I started to wonder how the phenomenon might have looked from a child's-eye view. Children have always witnessed history in the making, even if they weren't often invited to comment on it."

Bagram Ibatoulline was born in Russia, graduated from the State Academic Institute of Arts in Moscow, and has worked in the fields of fine arts, graphic arts, mural design, and textile design. He illustrated CROSSING by Philip Booth, THE NIGHTINGALE by Hans Christian Andersen as retold by Stephen Mitchell, and THE ANIMAL HEDGE by Paul Fleischman. He says, "I have always been a great admirer of Dutch and Flemish paintings, so when I was asked to illustrate HANA IN THE TIME OF THE TULIPS, I was absolutely delighted. It was my chance to dive into the story and study the period more closely — enabling me to match the style and tone of the Dutch masters."

From School Library Journal:

Grade 2-5–It is the time of the tulips, and little Hana misses the attention previously given to her by her now much-distracted, dejected, tulipomaniac father. These days, he is interested only in wealth and trade, bulbs and business; Hana and her dog are banished from the North Garden where Papa's flowers, which once brought pleasure, grow. Noyes's unaffected child's-eye view of the baffling turn of events that drove Holland's economy to collapse focuses on family and on the innocent concern of a child for her father: he is sad, and her simple and fondest wish is to make him smile again. The illustrations are a haunting homage to Rembrandt, who has a peripheral role in the story and whose art typifies the day. Ibatoulline's paintings demonstrate the flexibility of his acrylic-gouache work, which so perfectly mimics Rembrandt's oils, inks, and bistre washes, and which deftly incorporates the chiaroscuro that was central to the master's work. Endpaper scapes of the cottages and canals he loved so well effect an instant time-slip, and the rich, atmospheric portrait work is eloquent. This introduction to a curious time and curious events includes a brief author's note that offers more concrete information on the tulipomania that seized 17th-century Holland (albeit for an older audience), and it functions as a fine vehicle for Ibatoulline's talents. Perhaps a bit esoteric for the elementary school set, but beautiful, nonetheless.–Kathy Krasniewicz, Perrot Library, Old Greenwich, CT
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About this edition

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0763618756
• ISBN 13: 9780763618759
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Ibatoulline Bagram