Foto de l'autor

Debby Atwell

Autor/a de The Thanksgiving Door

5+ obres 318 Membres 13 Ressenyes

Obres de Debby Atwell

The Thanksgiving Door (2003) 124 exemplars
Barn (1996) 83 exemplars
River (1999) 68 exemplars
Pearl (2001) 37 exemplars
The Warthog's Tail (2005) 6 exemplars

Obres associades

The Day Hans Got His Way (1992) — Il·lustrador — 15 exemplars
Sleeping Moon (1994) — Il·lustrador — 13 exemplars

Etiquetat

Coneixement comú

Data de naixement
1953-05-28
Gènere
female
Nacionalitat
USA
Lloc de naixement
Providence, RI, USA
Llocs de residència
Rockland, ME, USA
Educació
University of New Hampshire (BFA)
Professions
author
illustrator
artist
iconographer

Membres

Ressenyes

Raised one foggy day in colonial New England, the eponymous barn in this lovely picture-book from author/artist Debby Atwell endures for more than two centuries, a silent witness to the changing human society around it. As generations of humans come and go, the barn stands watch, functioning as a farm barn, an antique store, and a horse stable. Destroyed by fire, the barn is raised again, and stands at the end of the book as it did at the beginning, with the east wind off the Atlantic blowing through its two big doors...

Being a great admirer of Atwell's work, and having read her four other picture-books, as well as the three she illustrated for other authors, I was eager to pick up Barn - the last of her titles I had yet to read. I enjoyed it quite a bit, appreciating the beautiful folk-art style illustrations, and the theme of change and continuity, over time. In this latter respect, it reminded me of Atwell's Pearl and River, which offer a similar narrative of generations passing, as marked by one woman's life in the former, and by the health of a river, in the latter. Although I have read it last of all of Atwell's titles, it was actually the first book she both wrote and illustrated, and I think it is not quite as strong as those subsequent books. Still, it is quite lovely, and could be used in a unit on the landscape and history of New England, as well as a general story about the themes of time and change.
… (més)
 
Marcat
AbigailAdams26 | Hi ha 2 ressenyes més | Aug 24, 2021 |
Tegan, a witch's daughter hurrying home one Halloween afternoon, is dismayed to find a fierce warthog blocking her gate. Deciding to use magic to shift him, she tries to make a dog bite the warthog with one of her mother's spells. Failing this, she attempts to make a stick beat the dog, in order to force it to bite the warthog. When this too fails, she tries unsuccessfully to use one of her mother's magic matches to burn the stick, thereby forcing it to beat the dog, which will in turn be forced to bite the warthog. Perplexed at the failure of all of these stratagems, Tegan doesn't know what to do, until an old man happens along, suggesting that persuasion is a better kind of magic than force. Asking politely, and trusting in the response, Tegan manages to finally get what she wants, and the match burns the stick, the stick beats the dog, and the dog bites off the warthog's tail. Carrying this severed body part home, Tegan is surprised to find that it is the very thing that is needed for her mother's Halloween spell...

I am a great admirer of author/artist Debby Atwell's work, having read and enjoyed a number of the picture-books she both wrote and illustrated - The Thanksgiving Door, River - as well as those she illustrated for others - Jan Pinborough's Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children, David Lewis Atwell's The Day Hans Got His Way: A Norwegian Folktale. One of her books, Pearl, is that rarest of things for me: a title that I gave a full five stars, when rating. Given that this is so, I was fully expecting to enjoy The Warthog's Tail, especially given my fondness for witchy picture-books, which are a perennial pet project of mine. How surprising then, to discover that although I appreciated the artwork here, and the witchy themes (naturally), I found the story a hot mess. I'm fully on board with the message that persuasion is better than force, but I'm not really sure that that's the real message here. After all, while Tegan used persuasion to get the old man what he wants - a stone to sit on - the favor she extracts in return - the use of the match to light the stick on fire - leads to the very use of force - the beating of the dog, the biting of the warthog - that the old man was supposedly warning against. One might think this formulation is meant to be humorous - Tegan uses persuasion, but not in the way intended - but if that is the case, then what is one to make of the fact that the old man is really her mother in disguise, and that the warthog's tail is needed for a spell? Doesn't that imply that force was necessary all along? As I said, the whole thing is a hot mess, from a narrative perspective, and the ethical issues raised by animal abuse being depicted in this way are also troubling. In the end, I really only enjoyed the artwork here, which is vividly colorful, and full of fun witchy details. Overall, I don't recommend it.
… (més)
 
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AbigailAdams26 | Mar 21, 2021 |
"The Thanksgiving Door" is is based on a story about an elderly couple, Ed and Ann, whose Thanksgiving dinner did not go as expected when Ann accidentally burnt their dinner. Ed suggests they go to the new restaurant down the street, 'New World Cafe' where they are invited to join an immigrant family for dinner. Ed and Ann were exposed to the immigrant family's holiday traditions, which differed from their own, but they developed new friendships out of it. This book is a great depiction of diversity of holiday celebrations amongst ethnicities, as well as being open and accepting of the diverse situations around you. This book can obviously be shared to students before or after Thanksgiving break on a lesson about holiday traditions amongst various types of races and ethnicities. I would also like to point out that the illustrations in this book are very colorful and are great for grasping the readers attention and allowing them to follow along with the plot.… (més)
½
 
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Morgan.Santiago | Hi ha 4 ressenyes més | Sep 16, 2019 |
A tale by Debby Atwell follows an elderly couple on Thanksgiving day. When their dinner is burned , they venture out to find a place to eat. The couple stumbles upon a restaurant, which is meant to be closed, and is invited to join a family of immigrants during their Thanksgiving festivities. A beautiful story of old world traditions in a new world. The book is able to depict how different cultures celebrate familiar holidays very well. I enjoyed the illustrations and even felt that they carried the book at some points. I wish the writing would have been a bit more engaging, perhaps differing sentence structure could have helped in that regard. This would be a great story to have available for children when discussing traditions around the world.… (més)
½
 
Marcat
lsiben | Hi ha 4 ressenyes més | Feb 16, 2019 |

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Estadístiques

Obres
5
També de
3
Membres
318
Popularitat
#74,348
Valoració
3.9
Ressenyes
13
ISBN
13

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