From Kirkus Reviews:
Like Locker's paintings for a few words from Moby Dick (Catskill Eagle, p. 1091), a visual extension of a brief quote from a well-known author. ``Day by day,/I float my paper boats one by one,/Down the running stream,'' begins this quiet, gently philosophical poem by the winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize for Literature, who returned to teach in India after his British schooling. Like the Native American in Holling's Paddle-to-the- Sea (1941), this Indian boy imagines his frail craft's journey, but his thoughts are more imaginative--they concern the wind that also moves the clouds and ``the fairies of sleep'' that board the boats in his dreams. In a promising debut, Bochak provides attractive collages of torn and cut paper of various textures, arranged so that their shadows contribute to the careful compositions; her skillful blend of earth tones and sunset hues and the boy's posture and intent face effectively reflect the poem's ruminative flavor. Not an essential purchase, but an appealing idyll. (Poetry/Picture book. 3-8) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
From School Library Journal:
Kindergarten-Grade 4-- Elegant paper cutouts perfectly complement this poem by India's Nobel prize winner. Originally published in Tagore's Crescent Moon (Asia Book Corp., 1988), it is a first-person narration of a child who day after day writes his name and the name of his village on paper boats. He sails them down the stream, hoping that someone in a strange land will find them and learn of their creator. Against skies of the palest orange of dawn, then pink, magenta, and finally the rich purples and blues of dusk, the illustrations show a boy launching his boats and dreaming at water's edge, with a rabbit, monkey, and peacocks nearby. The three-dimensional effect, created through shadow and the use of textured paper and color washes, is so striking that readers will want to grasp the string of the paper boats and pull it out of the pages. With its classic simplicity and universal theme, this is a fine mood piece to read aloud. --Diane S. Marton, Arlington County Library, VA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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