Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree - Hardcover

Miller, William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1880000148 ISBN 13: 9781880000144

Publisher: Lee & Low Books, 1994

Synopsis

A beautifully rendered and colorfully illustrated account of the childhood of the great black writer and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston shows a young child triumphing over adversity and learning to pursue her dreams. IP.

About this title

About the Author:

William Miller is the award-winning author of numerous books for children for LEE & LOW (see full list to the right). Mr. Miller lives in York, Pennsylvania, where he teaches African American literature and creative writing at York College.

Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu have illustrated many award-winning books for Lee & Low, including Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree and Sam and the Lucky Money. Van Wright, a native New Yorker, and Hu, who was born in Taiwan, are a husband and wife team living in New York City.

Ying-Hwa Hu and Cornelius Van Wright have illustrated many award-winning books for Lee & Low, including Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree and Sam and the Lucky Money. Van Wright, a native New Yorker, and Hu, who was born in Taiwan, are a husband and wife team living in New York City.

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 3-Hurston's difficult childhood is a challenging subject for a picture book, and Miller is not entirely successful in his treatment. The story is framed by scenes of the child in a chinaberry tree, imagining what lies beyond the horizon. The blurry edges of the watercolor images work well to suggest the worldview of a young girl prone to dreaming. The problem lies with what is left unsaid in the brief narrative. With only three sentences to characterize her father, children may be confused to learn that "Zora only listened to her mother." However, it is the treatment of her mother's death that is most problematic. As the child spies on the men and boys telling stories around the campfire, she hears about "...Death, the great square-toed one...who sat on a platform made of palm leaves and ruled with a sword in his hands." Two pages later, her mother dies. No explanation of the reference to death or of the family's funereal customs is given in the text or in the author's note. More importantly, the impact of the girl's beloved relative's death is not satisfactorily resolved by showing Zora climbing her chinaberry tree. More narrative is needed to help readers understand the unique setting and dynamics surrounding this character and to cushion the effect of this traumatic event. Stick with Patricia and Fredrick McKissack's Zora Neale Hurston (Enslow, 1992) and A.P. Porter's Jump at de Sun (Carolrhoda, 1992) for a more developed sense of the subject and her milieu.
Wendy Lukehart, Dauphin County Library, Harrisburg, PA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Lee & Low Books
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 1880000148
• ISBN 13: 9781880000144
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 1
• Illustrator: Van Wright Cornelius, Hu Ying-Hwa