Beautiful Bananas

by Elizabeth Laird, Liz Pichon (Illustrator)

Overview

A young girl's ordinary journey through the jungle turns into an amusing adventure, thanks to a few surprising encounters along the way.

Beatrice sets out through the lush African jungle to visit her beloved granddad. She carries with her a bunch of beautiful bananas as a special gift for him.

But her journey is interrupted as she encounters friendly but mischievous animals, including a giraffe, a parrot, monkeys...even a swarm of bees! When she loses the bananas, every animal tries to replace them with something special, but each gift gets lost in turn.

Finally, a friendly elephant reaches high into the trees. Will Granddad get his beautiful bananas after all?

Author Elizabeth Laird's clever, circular folktale is complemented by illustrator Liz Pichon's bright, bold images of the African jungle and the colorful and exotic animals that live there.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781561456918
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	03/05/2013
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	668,488
Product dimensions:	9.40(w) x 9.40(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	AD470L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Elizabeth Laird was born in New Zealand and grew up in England. She helped to create the Ethiopian Story Collecting Project, which collected over three hundred stories, which were published in English and Amharic for use in Ethiopian schools. She is an award-winning author who has been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal several times and has won the Smarties Young Judges prize. She lives in England.

Liz Pichon studied graphic design and worked as an art director in the music industry. She is the author and illustrator of numerous children's books, including the Tom Gates series, which has sold over eleven million copies internationally and been translated into forty-four languages. She lives in England.

Editorial Reviews

"The cheerful, bold artwork complements the mood and setting of the story. The straightforward, repetitive plot is fast paced and will encourage children to anticipate the next calamity, and guess what the new item will be. With bright, eye-catching artwork and a simple text, this story makes a good read-aloud."—School Library Journal

"This gentle tale will delight young readers (and listeners)."—Kirkus Reviews

"Pichon's pictures teem with energy, whether emanating from the comically expressive heroine or the boisterous but eager-to-please animals. The benevolently exotic setting glows with lemon yellow light and lime-green foliage, and readers will enjoy spotting, on each spread, the pair of eyes shining out between the jungle leaves."—Publishers Weekly

"This easy-to-read (and learn) folktale will be a hit with young audiences for its direct action and elegantly circular structure."—Booklist

From the Publisher

Beatrice, the heroine of Laird's (When the World Began) retelling of an African folktale, sets out across the jungle to her grandfather's house, intending to present him with a beautiful bunch of bananas. But a giraffe "flicks his tufty tail" and accidentally knocks the bananas out of Beatrice's arms and into a stream-setting off a chain reaction of animal faux pas and contrition that eventually brings the plot full circle. The giraffe apologizes by replacing the bananas with flowers; these in turn are ruined by some overzealous bees, who make amends by giving Beatrice some of their honey, and so on. The reparations of the final animal, an elephant, consist of none other than a bunch of bananas. "Oh, thank you," says round-faced, winsome Beatrice. "Bananas are best, after all." Pichon's (God Bless the Moon) pictures teem with energy, whether emanating from the comically expressive heroine or the boisterous but eager-to-please animals. The benevolently exotic setting glows with lemon yellow light and lime-green foliage, and readers will enjoy spotting, on each spread, the pair of eyes shining out between the jungle leaves. Ages 4-8. (Mar.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 2-This circular tale from East Africa incorporates familiar folkloric elements. A little girl sets out to take a gift of bananas to her grandfather. Along the way, she encounters a variety of jungle animals and each one causes an accident that results in her losing Granddad's present. The animal then replaces the lost object with a new one. By the time she arrives at the man's house, she once again has as a gift "a beautiful bunch of bananas." The cheerful, bold artwork complements the mood and setting of the story. The straightforward, repetitive plot is fast paced and will encourage children to anticipate the next calamity, and guess what the new item will be. With bright, eye-catching artwork and a simple text, this story makes a good read-aloud.-Margaret R. Tassia, Millersville University, PA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

In the African jungle full of colorful foliage and lush fruit, Beatrice sets off to visit her granddad with a beautiful bunch of bananas. Along the way she meets a giraffe that accidentally whisks the bananas off Beatrice's head and into the steam. He gives her flowers to replace her gift. But the flowers get smashed when the bees arrive, and more mishaps follow her along the trail, until she is left with a single feather from a parrot; in a final mishap, the feather is blown away when the elephant she meets sneezes. But like the others, the elephant replaces her gift for her granddad-this time the replacement is a beautiful bunch of bananas. This gentle tale will delight young readers (and listeners). (Picture book/folktale. 2-6)

Kirkus Reviews