BIBLOGRAPHY
Ryan, Pam Munoz. 2007. PAINT THE WIND. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN -13:9780439873628.
PLOT SUMMARY
This is a very moving story of a little girl named Maya. Maya has lived with her very strict Grandmother in California after her parents are killed in an accident six years ago. Her father was a businessman in California and her mother was a free spirit from the mountains. In a strange twist of events her Grandmother passes away and Maya is sent to live with her Mother’s family which the Grandmother kept away from Maya. Maya begins to understand her passion for horses and how her life is intertwined with a horse named, Artemisia. Maya makes an adult decision to help Artemisia and gets separated from her family by an earthquake and flood. Artemisia comes to Maya’s rescue and helps her get back to camp where her family is waiting. Maya understands the freedom her mother felt being with the horses and does not try and keep Artemisia captive and lets her go free on the range.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Pam Munoz Ryan does an excellent job of meshing the elements of the story together. This was a book that I did not want to put down but keep on reading. They way she describes the people and the environment you can “see” the mountains and the camp and even the staunch Grandmother’s house. The descriptions are what I would expect of the Hispanic culture as far as the clothing and hairstyles for a modern story set in the United States. This story does not present the culture of Hispanic’s in their native land. The characters in the story have been “Americanized” in a matter of speaking. There were no illustrations in the text. I enjoyed seeing the character of Maya unfold as she discovers information about her parents from her mother’s side of the family. Her paternal grandmother had cut her mother out of every photograph in every album in the house. Maya only had one photo she kept hidden of her mother along with some toy horses of her mother’s. Through the dialogue with the other characters Maya learns why her grandmother would have done such things as keep her away from her family. Maya grows and learns a lot in the pages of this story.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
Publisher’s Weekly – “When her imperious grandmother dies suddenly, 11-year-old Maya, an orphan, is sent to Wyoming to live with her mother's family-strangers to her, thanks to her grandmother's high-handed notions.”
VOYA –“Told through the eyes of Maya, a young girl kept in recluse-like conditions by her grandmother since her parents' death, and by Artemisia, a wild horse on the Western ranges, the chapters move from walk through gallop, which girl and horse must both learn to do.”
Children’s Literature –“The story will enthrall young horse lovers while also pleasing fans of Ryan's previous work featuring strong female protagonists who solve their own problems in a unique way.”
School Library Journal – “Against enormous odds, Maya makes it to safety with the help of Artemisia, and through these experiences her connection to her family and to the natural world are secured.”
CONNECTIONS
This story would be a good addition to a unit about families, wild horses, life in the mountains and coming of age.
Here are a few resources that would go well with the story.
Ginger Kathrens's Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies (BowTie, 2001) ISBN: 9781889540702
TOUCHING WILD HORSES, DVD
CABALLO:WILD HORSES OF NORTH AMERICA, DVD
One could also research the wild mustang relocation centers.
Ryan, Pam Munoz. 2007. PAINT THE WIND. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN -13:9780439873628.
PLOT SUMMARY
This is a very moving story of a little girl named Maya. Maya has lived with her very strict Grandmother in California after her parents are killed in an accident six years ago. Her father was a businessman in California and her mother was a free spirit from the mountains. In a strange twist of events her Grandmother passes away and Maya is sent to live with her Mother’s family which the Grandmother kept away from Maya. Maya begins to understand her passion for horses and how her life is intertwined with a horse named, Artemisia. Maya makes an adult decision to help Artemisia and gets separated from her family by an earthquake and flood. Artemisia comes to Maya’s rescue and helps her get back to camp where her family is waiting. Maya understands the freedom her mother felt being with the horses and does not try and keep Artemisia captive and lets her go free on the range.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Pam Munoz Ryan does an excellent job of meshing the elements of the story together. This was a book that I did not want to put down but keep on reading. They way she describes the people and the environment you can “see” the mountains and the camp and even the staunch Grandmother’s house. The descriptions are what I would expect of the Hispanic culture as far as the clothing and hairstyles for a modern story set in the United States. This story does not present the culture of Hispanic’s in their native land. The characters in the story have been “Americanized” in a matter of speaking. There were no illustrations in the text. I enjoyed seeing the character of Maya unfold as she discovers information about her parents from her mother’s side of the family. Her paternal grandmother had cut her mother out of every photograph in every album in the house. Maya only had one photo she kept hidden of her mother along with some toy horses of her mother’s. Through the dialogue with the other characters Maya learns why her grandmother would have done such things as keep her away from her family. Maya grows and learns a lot in the pages of this story.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
Publisher’s Weekly – “When her imperious grandmother dies suddenly, 11-year-old Maya, an orphan, is sent to Wyoming to live with her mother's family-strangers to her, thanks to her grandmother's high-handed notions.”
VOYA –“Told through the eyes of Maya, a young girl kept in recluse-like conditions by her grandmother since her parents' death, and by Artemisia, a wild horse on the Western ranges, the chapters move from walk through gallop, which girl and horse must both learn to do.”
Children’s Literature –“The story will enthrall young horse lovers while also pleasing fans of Ryan's previous work featuring strong female protagonists who solve their own problems in a unique way.”
School Library Journal – “Against enormous odds, Maya makes it to safety with the help of Artemisia, and through these experiences her connection to her family and to the natural world are secured.”
CONNECTIONS
This story would be a good addition to a unit about families, wild horses, life in the mountains and coming of age.
Here are a few resources that would go well with the story.
Ginger Kathrens's Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies (BowTie, 2001) ISBN: 9781889540702
TOUCHING WILD HORSES, DVD
CABALLO:WILD HORSES OF NORTH AMERICA, DVD
One could also research the wild mustang relocation centers.
Book cover image is from the Barnes and Noble website.
No comments:
Post a Comment