|
Abiyoyo (Stories to Go!) Paperback | 
 enlarge | Author: Pete Seeger
Creator: Michael Hays
Publisher: Aladdin
Category: Book
Buy New: $4.99
New (4) Used (3) Collectible (1) from $1.37
Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 103387
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Pages: 48
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 6 x 0.5
ISBN: 0689878257
Dewey Decimal Number: 398.2096801
EAN: 9780689878251
ASIN: 0689878257
Publication Date: January 6, 2005
Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served.
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Book Description
Once there was a little boy who played the ukelele. Wherever he'd go he'd play, Clink, clunk, clonk. His father was a magician. Wherever he'd go, he'd make things disappear, Zoop! Zoop! Soon the townspeople grew tired of the boy's noise and his father's tricks, and banished both of them to the edge of town. There they lived, until one day the terrible giant Abiyoyo appeared. He was as tall as a tree, and it was said that he could eat people up. Everyone was terrified, except the boy and his father, and they came up with a plan to save the town... Peter Seeger's storysong, made up for his own children, finds its perfect match in Michael Hays's masterful paintings. Together they make a richly vivid and exciting story.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...
 A Tale Perfectly Suited to Young Imaginations October 29, 2004
Theo Logos (Pittsburgh, PA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Abiyoyo was an African folktale, adapted by folk singer Pete Seeger as a bedtime story for his children, and later used in his concerts. The story is brilliant in its gripping simplicity, perfectly suited to capture the attention of small children and spark their imaginations. A little boy who plays the ukulele and his father, who plays tricks on people by using a magic wand to make things disappear are run out of town because they are annoying everyone. Then a giant from the old days, who eats people alive, comes and threatens the town, and it is only the little boy and his dad, using the very talents that had annoyed everyone, who save the day, and become heroes.
This book is the very favorite of my two pre-school boys. Everyday they bring it to me repeatedly asking me to read it to them. Every night, they request it as their last bedtime story (the story is easy to memorize, and lends itself well to personal adaptations). My four-year old will "read" the book himself, turning through the pages and repeating the story that he has memorized. Abiyoyo has captured their imaginations, and even entered into their play.
The book's illustrations are intriguing. As I mentioned, this story was adapted from an African folktale, and the boy and his father are depicted appropriately in character. But the illustrator depicts the town in which they live as a global village, with the residents being of many races and cultures, all wearing classic costumes of those cultures. Originally, this concept put me off a bit - an impossible mish-mash village that seemed little more than a sop to political correctness for kids. But as I watched my kids react to the book, my opinion changed. The multitude of customs stirred their curiosity, and as I answered their questions about each one, I realized that these illustrations provided an excellent tool for introducing them to the concept of different cultures.
This is a quality product - a great, simple story, creative illustrations, and a nice CD included with two versions of Pete Seeger telling the story in his own voice. My boys and I give it our highest recommendation.
Theo Logos
abiyoyo March 18, 2000
jane bishop (Old Orchard Beach,Maine)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Chrildren at my nursery school beg to hear this book over and over,I also love it and readily comply. We have the audio recording by Pete Seegar to accompany this story, he is a joy to listen to.
Wonderful story and lullaby December 9, 1997
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
My boys discovered this book at their preschool - both my two year old and the four year old adore the story and love the song that goes along with it (it's a Pete Seeger classic)! We now have a copy at home and it gets read aloud at least once a day. I highly recommend this book to anyone with young children - I just wish you carried the version with the audio tape and song. We can't seem to find it anywhere.
Not a BFG July 18, 2005
E. R. Bird (Manhattan, NY)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Every summer, the library in which I work has daily storytimes. And when 3:30 rolls around, the librarian who's supposed to be doing the reading (that would be me) inevitably starts searching the shelves for some sure-fire storytime hits. It isn't easy. You have to gauge how old your audience is going to be, sight unseen, and come up with a variety of different reading levels just in case. You need books that sound good on the tongue, are interesting, sport amusing pictures, and yet have just enough creativity to enliven a half-hour of tale telling. With all this in mind, thank God for "Abiyoyo". It fulfills a storyteller's every need and keeps 'em coming back for more. Little wonder it's as popular as it is.
In a town populated by people of every race, persuasion, and creed, a boy and his father live. They're not the most popular people in town. The boy plucks his ukelele everywhere to the distraction of his neighbors and his father, a yuckster, likes to make things disappear for no good reason. Unsurprisingly, they're chucked out of town when the boy's pa makes one thing too many go "zoop!". On the edge of town one day, they spot a fearsome sight. A giant by the name of Abiyoyo has appeared and he has a ravenous appetite for sheep, cows, and people. Fortunately, the boy and the father have a plan and it isn't long before their ukelele and magic wand have some very practical uses indeed.
Now I know this book is called a "storysong" and that it certainly couldn't hurt to sing it aloud during the reading, but I tell you here and now that a musical ear is not a requirement for this tale. Admittedly, I'd recommend that you purchase a version of this book that comes with a recording by Pete Seeger. Obviously. But if you're reading it on your own to a large group of dumb-struck five-year-olds, just read the song "Abiyoyo" that appears in this book with a whole lot of verve and pep. The story is relatively short (it takes less than 5 minutes to read it) but the words are catchy with plenty of "zoops", "clinks" "clunks" and "clonks" to jangle with the ear.
The illustrations are a source of contention. Why this is, I do not know. Illustrator Michael Hays (also responsible for Mildred D. Taylor's, "Gold Cadillac") has chosen to place this tale in a particularly fanciful village. The people here are of all kinds of races and identities. This is the world as a village in a particularly straightforward way. Abiyoyo himself, when he appears, is a suitable threat. Initially silhouetted against a "blood red" sky, he looks like nothing so much as an escapee from a Cubism painting. All sharp shiny surfaces, of which there are too many.
Few kids can resist hearing a tale of magic, giants, and a clever child hero. "Abiyoyo" shall undoubtedly remain a staple of the storytelling community for years and years to come as well. If you have a list of picture book must-reads, be sure to place this one somewhere in the vicinity of the top.
 A delightful storysong with subpar illustrations September 15, 2004
Kara Reuter (Columbus, OH)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
In a storysong based on a South African folktale, a young boy and his father are cast out of town because they annoy the townspeople with their ukulele playing and magic tricks. When the giant Abiyoyo comes to town wreaking havoc, the father and son save the day with the same ukulele music and magic.
Do yourself a favor and check out Seeger's performance, which is really is delightful - you can hear the children laughing at some parts and the adults at others. The book, however, falls a little flat for me. In print, the text seems dull and a little spare and, for a storysong, it has little rhythm. The illustrations aren't particularly remarkable, but the diversity of the townfolk is a little heavy-handed, with an Asian woman with chopsticks in her hair, an Indian woman with a bindi on her forehead, a Buddhist monk, a bearded man with a yarmulke, an American Indian man with braids and a feathered headband, and a man of indeterminate origin with a turban on his head and a monkey on his shoulder! With what we can hear in Seeger's performance, I wonder if a new edition with updated illustrations is in order. Also, I would be interested in knowing more about the tale this was based on - in a nice introduction honoring the tradition of oral storytelling, Seeger admits to building the story out of a footnote. I would be interested in knowing a bit more about the story's origins.
|
|
|
|
| |
