Cynthia Rylant is an author of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry for children and young adults as well as an author and author/illustrator of picture books for children. Rylant is a prolific author who often bases her works on her childhood in the West Virginia mountains. She is the creator of contemporary novels and historical fiction for young adults, middle-grade fiction, and fantasy, lyrical prose poems, collections of short stories, volumes of poetry and verse, books of prayers and blessings, two autobiographies, and a biography of three well-known children’s writers. Several volumes of her fiction and picture books are published in series, including the popular “Henry and Mudge” easy readers about a small boy and his very large dog.
Like a cherished photograph album, this literary and visual portrait of Appalachia by two natives of the region is a book to share across generations. Beginning with dogs that are “named Prince or King” and live in towns “with names like Coal City and Sally’s Backbone,” Rylant moves to the people, their houses and their activities. The text offers pure nostalgia—a skillfully structured essay that appears, deceptively, to meander like a dusty country lane and underscores the warmth, generosity of spirit and steadfastness of the inhabitants of the “shimmering painted mountains of Appalachia.” Rylant observes: “The men and women and children who live in Appalachia have no sourness about them.” She says “the children love all the seasons.” But when she focuses on particular details, her prose becomes poetic: the “mountains wear heavy shawls of fog, and giant moths flap at the porch lights while cars cut through the dark hollows like burrowing moles.” Barry Moser’s masterfully executed paintings—from the stretching coon dog to the biscuits that wait on the iron stove—express beauty in plainness, capturing the culture and people of the hills and hollows with affection and sensitivity.
Cynthia Rylant, a Newberry medalist, has a wonderful way of describing the people of Appalachia. Although this book is written for young readers, I found it fascinating. If you’re looking for a gift for a child or a grandparent, “Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds” is a book I enthusiastically recommend.
Along with junior books by other well-known Appalachian authors, it is available at the Jesse Stuart Foundation Bookstore at 4440 13th Street in Ashland. For more information call 606-326-1667 or email jsf@jsfbooks.com.
James M. Gifford, Ph.D.
CEO & Senior Editor
Jesse Stuart Foundation
Cynthia Rylant is an author of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry for children and young adults as well as an author and author/illustrator of picture books for children. Rylant is a prolific author who often bases her works on her childhood in the West Virginia mountains. She is the creator of contemporary novels and historical fiction for young adults, middle-grade fiction, and fantasy, lyrical prose poems, collections of short stories, volumes of poetry and verse, books of prayers and blessings, two autobiographies, and a biography of three well-known children’s writers. Several volumes of her fiction and picture books are published in series, including the popular “Henry and Mudge” easy readers about a small boy and his very large dog.
Like a cherished photograph album, this literary and visual portrait of Appalachia by two natives of the region is a book to share across generations. Beginning with dogs that are “named Prince or King” and live in towns “with names like Coal City and Sally’s Backbone,” Rylant moves to the people, their houses and their activities. The text offers pure nostalgia—a skillfully structured essay that appears, deceptively, to meander like a dusty country lane and underscores the warmth, generosity of spirit and steadfastness of the inhabitants of the “shimmering painted mountains of Appalachia.” Rylant observes: “The men and women and children who live in Appalachia have no sourness about them.” She says “the children love all the seasons.” But when she focuses on particular details, her prose becomes poetic: the “mountains wear heavy shawls of fog, and giant moths flap at the porch lights while cars cut through the dark hollows like burrowing moles.” Barry Moser’s masterfully executed paintings—from the stretching coon dog to the biscuits that wait on the iron stove—express beauty in plainness, capturing the culture and people of the hills and hollows with affection and sensitivity.
Cynthia Rylant, a Newberry medalist, has a wonderful way of describing the people of Appalachia. Although this book is written for young readers, I found it fascinating. If you’re looking for a gift for a child or a grandparent, “Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds” is a book I enthusiastically recommend.
Along with junior books by other well-known Appalachian authors, it is available at the Jesse Stuart Foundation Bookstore at 4440 13th Street in Ashland. For more information call 606-326-1667 or email jsf@jsfbooks.com.
James M. Gifford, Ph.D.
CEO & Senior Editor
Jesse Stuart Foundation
