Oh Lord, I Wish I Was a Buzzard
From dawn to dusk, a little girl harvests cotton in the sweltering Mississippi Delta heat. Imagining her way through the endless day, she wishes she could be anyone else – from a snake curled up and cool to a buzzard going round and round in the sky. Finally, sunset approaches, and a special treat awaits. Based on a sharecropper's childhood memories, Polly Greenberg's rhythmic text and Aliki's sun-soaked illustrations make an unforgettable tale just right for the youngest reader.\ Author...
Search in google:
"We picked and we picked and we picked and we picked..." From dawn to dusk, a little girl harvests cotton with her family during the sweltering crop season. Imagining her way through the endless day, she wishes she could be anyone else-from a snake curved up and cool to a buzzard going round and round in the sky. Then at last, sunset approaches and a special treat awaits. Polly Greenberg's rhythmic, easy-to-read text and Aliki's striking sun-soaked illustrations together make an unforgettable tale-part story, part song, and all poetry. Though based on a sharecropper's childhood memory from generations ago, this timeless story reflects everyone's wish to escape...and to be as free as a bird. First published in 1968, it is a powerful today as the day it was first told.Candice Ransom - Children's Literature"When I was a little girl, we walked out to the cotton field in the morning with the sun shining pretty on the land." So begins this simple story of an African-American girl, her brother, and parents as they harvest cotton on a scorching day. As the narrator fills her burlap sack, she sees different animals and wishes she were in their place, free as a butterfly or cool as a snake. Based on a childhood memory of Gladys Henton, the lyrical tale captures the backbreaking work with the refrain, "We picked and we picked and we picked and we picked." At day's end, the children receive their reward, a sucker. The narrator keeps the candy part in her hand and puts the stick in her mouth to give the impression of having lots of candy. Aliki's paintings in shades of brown and sepia, hot-sun orange, and cotton-boll white are reminiscent of batik fabric or linoleum block prints. Lots of white space convey soul-sapping Delta heat, while the pull-back panorama scenes illustrates the enormity of the task. First published in 1968, the reissued text has an author's note about the Child Development Group of Mississippi project and a note to families and teachers about child labor. 2002 (orig. 1968), SeaStar books,
\ Children's Literature"When I was a little girl, we walked out to the cotton field in the morning with the sun shining pretty on the land." So begins this simple story of an African-American girl, her brother, and parents as they harvest cotton on a scorching day. As the narrator fills her burlap sack, she sees different animals and wishes she were in their place, free as a butterfly or cool as a snake. Based on a childhood memory of Gladys Henton, the lyrical tale captures the backbreaking work with the refrain, "We picked and we picked and we picked and we picked." At day's end, the children receive their reward, a sucker. The narrator keeps the candy part in her hand and puts the stick in her mouth to give the impression of having lots of candy. Aliki's paintings in shades of brown and sepia, hot-sun orange, and cotton-boll white are reminiscent of batik fabric or linoleum block prints. Lots of white space convey soul-sapping Delta heat, while the pull-back panorama scenes illustrates the enormity of the task. First published in 1968, the reissued text has an author's note about the Child Development Group of Mississippi project and a note to families and teachers about child labor. 2002 (orig. 1968), SeaStar books, \ — Candice Ransom\ \
