Product Description

What is a family to do after Grandmother hitches a ride on a passing porpoise and heads for Greenland--especially after they find a just-hatched nest of birds in her bedroom? The windows were shut, the door closed--could the stuffed pigeon on Grandmother's shelf have had anything to do with this? Full color.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #583157 in Books
• Published on: 1996-04-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

Amazon.com Review
The mystical and the natural blend superbly in this first children's book by the accomplished literary novelist Louise Erdrich. The eccentric, well-traveled grandmother of two young kids decamps in mid-vacation, riding a porpoise to Greenland and leaving behind a trove of strange treasures and artifacts including a collection of bird's nests and three old eggs which hatch, marvelously, into passenger pigeons. Erdrich wields her Native American ancestry and her worldiness--Grandmother owns an original Klee--to give young readers a sense of the world's wonders and the wisdom of the elders, the old wisdom of the natural cycles that we are losing. A letter from Grandmother, promising to return, winds up this fetching tale.

From Publishers Weekly
As in her fiction for adults (Love Medicine), Erdrich makes every word count in her bewitching debut children's story. Similarly, there is not a wasted stroke in LaMarche's (The Rainbabies; Carousel) evocative acrylic and colored-pencil art, which brings the characters' expressive faces and likable personalities into sharp focus. Because Grandmother had trained kicking mules and skied the Continental Divide, her two grandchildren have come to expect the unexpected. Even so, the adventurous woman surprises them and their parents when, parasol in hand, she sails away on the back of a porpoise, announcing, "I've always wanted to see Greenland!" Reluctantly cleaning out her room one year later, the subdued family discovers something mysterious among Grandmother's many treasures: a twig nest containing three eggs that hatch into birds of an extinct species. Erdrich's articulate, wide-eyed narrator, the missing woman's granddaughter, conveys a contagious sense of wonder and serenely invokes some breathtaking imagery; describing Grandmother's bird nest collection, she notes, "I liked the hummingbird's, no bigger than my little fingernail, created with stolen spiderwebs." Impeccably paired, text and art gracefully build to a conclusion that both reassures and startles. Magical from beginning to end. Ages 5-9.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3?Erdrich's first book for children is a moving paean to a mysterious grandmother and a fantasy as well. The family matriarch, who is described in loving, fluid language, is a bit of an eccentric. She has vanished, as the story opens, on the back of a porpoise enroute to Greenland, leaving her belongings behind. What happens next "is a fluke, a miracle"-eggs from one of the woman's birds' nests hatch and three young male squabs of an extinct species-passenger pigeons-flourish; all the while, grandmother's stuffed pigeon sits motionless on a plaster roost wearing just a hint of a knowing smile. Ornithologists, laboratory scientists, and reporters then invade the household until the children can bear no more. They attach messages to the birds' feet, open the cage, and set them free. A few weeks later a return message arrives via the post. This one is from a traveler who had to change porpoises three times before reaching her destination. Full-page, large, realistic paintings define and complement the text. LaMarche's pictures of the woman's bedroom are chock-full of cherished clutter; and the children are drawn with a deftness that suggests that the illustrator knows them from the inside out. This book is a small gem, a bit of a puzzle, and a delight to pore over and ponder.?Harriett Fargnoli, Great Neck Library, NY
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

a wonderful little book
Louise Erdrich is the author of the award winning novels Love Medicine and The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse , amongst others. She is an incredibly gifted novelist. Grandmother's Pigeon is her first book for children.

I haven't read a book written specifically for children in well over a decade (Harry Potter and The Narnia series would be more for young adults and are suitable for adults on different levels), but Grandmother's Pigeon is a true children's book. It is only about 30 pages, half of which are illustrations. Like any good children's book, this one is mixed with the simple and the fantastic (perhaps all the more understandable considering Erdrich's American Indian heritage). The story is simple, a grandmother goes away on a trip and bird eggs are discovered in her room. When the eggs hatch, the birds turn out to be Passenger Pigeons (a long extinct species), three males. There is some commotion about the pigeons and finally they are released into the wild by the family. The fantastic comes in from the very start when Grandmother announces she is going to travel to Greenland on the back of a turtle and it is hinted the a stuffed animal toy pigeon may have been the cause of the mysterious eggs. It is a very sweet, charming story and I would imagine any child would enjoy reading this book.

Heartwarming
This is a wonderful book that has a special message of conservation and environmentalism. The characters are very appealing and the grandmother has a special magical gift within the story. This is a treasure to give your children or grandchildren.

A Bookful of Wonder
The illustrations in this book are wonderful and are a perfect compliment to this strange,comforting story of a loving family and the legacy of their magical grandmother. There are some subtle nuances that parents will pick up if they pay attention. This is a tale about ecology and love for free and wild creatures, with a bit of shamanism thrown in for good measure. There is humour here and wisdom. I love this book for the satisfying feeling of gentle wonder that I feel as I turn the last page and close the book. I recommend it to all with childish hearts.