From School Library Journal
Grade 4 Up A fine example of a 20th-Century regional ballad, one that tells of the profound cold of the Yukon and how it affected the lives of two gold miners. If no . . . Ancient Mariner in philosophic potential or length, nevertheless it is similar in its ability to create moods of danger, death, and mystic liberation. Harrison's paintings are also mood-producing in their expressionistic use of flat, saturated colors that seem trapped by thick lines of contrasting colors to create shapes of people, landscape, and sky. Heavy use of blues and purples allows the occasional bright red of a parka or orange sunrise to emphasize the bitterness of the incessant cold. The atmosphere is dry and crystal clear, so that distances shrink, and the encapsulated shapes of clouds, mountains, and frozen rivers and lakes create a world without movement or end, the eternal frost that Sam could no longer tolerate. An added feature in this version are brief captions printed at the bottom of each text page, opposite the full-page paintings, that explain a little of the picture's content. Service's ballad, written in 1907, and Harrison's paintings are strong evocations of the Gold Rush era in the Yukon. Kenneth Marantz, Art Education Department, Ohio State University, ColumbusCopyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Cremation of Sam McGee FROM THE CRITICS
Children's Literature - Valerie O. Patterson
Nicknamed "Canada's Kipling" for his renowned three volumes of poetry about the northland, Robert Service wrote this classic Yukon adventure poem in 1907. The poem's narrator says of the north "there are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold." He says the "Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see was that night. . . [when] I cremated Sam McGee." One day McGee, who was from Tennessee and forever cold in the far north, convinces the narrator to promise to cremate him if he dies. McGee dies that very day. Burdened by his promise, the narrator lashes the corpse to the dog sled and hauls it with him over the Arctic trails. Finally, with food supplies low and the sled dogs tiring, the narrator comes to Lake Lebarge where he finds a derelict boat caught in the ice. He stokes a fire in the boiler and pushes his deceased friend inside. After the fire dies, the narrator returns and what does he see but Sam McGee inside saying to shut the door and not let in the cold and storm. For the first time, McGee says, he's "warm." Although written almost one hundred years ago, the humorous poem seems both ancient and ageless, especially when combined in this edition with the vibrant illustrations by Ted Harrison whose woodblock style makes the north simmer with oranges and yellows. 2004, Kids Can Press, Ages 9 up.
Art & Photography
Book Info
