Gift of the Sun: A Tale from South Africa

by Dianne Stewart

Book Overview

Borders, diapers, patterns from Egypt, Greece, Rome, Japan, Persia, Medieval Europe, etc. 80 plates,

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374324255
• ISBN13: 9780374324254
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 10.8" x 8.7"
• Age Range: 5 years and up
• Grade Range: Kindergarten and higher

Customer Reviews

A sweet and engaging tale.

I have relatives in South Africa so I have bought several "South African" children's books for my son over the years (he is now almost five), but this is definitely our favorite. The folk-art-style illustrations are beautiful -- every page is a gem. They are realistic, too, in the way that they depict the characters, their house, and possessions -- accurately capturing the simple poverty. The wording of the story is poetic and engaging.My son really likes this story and will read it with me night after night. It is just a very appealing book overall and a nice way of introducing little ones to Africa. (Too bad it is no longer widely available.)

Gift of The Sun is heartwarming!

In South Africa, Thulani is tired of milking his cow every dayso he exchanges it at the store for a goat. That doesn't work - toomuch trouble so he makes some more exchanges ending up with a pocketful of seeds. As his wife Dora tends the fields of growing sunflowers, Thulani goes back to dozing beneath the hot sun. When the sunflowers drop their seeds & he feeds them to his chickens - ah! amazing things begin to happen & Dora is happy! Lively story & lovely pictures with some good ideas about work & play, labor & results. A treasure! Great gift material...