Home at Last: A Song of Migration

by April Pulley Sayre

Some animals have only one home. They may travel just a few inches, yards, or miles from that spot. But others migrate great distances. They spend part of their time in one home and part of it in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805051546
• ISBN13: 9780805051544
• Release Date: November 1998
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Length: 1 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 10.5" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

AN OVERLOOKED BOOK THAT DESERVES MUCH BETTER!

I have always been a bit bewildered and confused at to why this particular 1998 work by April Pulley Sayer has not and is not better known. It is illustrated by Alix Berenzy, who is one of the best, and Ms. Sayre has given us some rare prose is presenting the phenomena of animal migration. This work has everything going for it, yet few have even heard of it, much less read it. I am, as I indicated above, quite puzzled. This work briefly tells the story of migratory animals which include warblers, salmon, green turtles, monarch butterflies, gray whales, caribou, spiny lobsters, arctic terns and wood frogs. Each animal is given a one and one half page spread. An example of the prose would be as follows: "A caribou here, like a river of antlers, walks and eats and walks. They head from the forest to their summer home, the coastal plain. When they reach it, they'll be... home at last." The detailed art in this work is quite realistic but at the same time shaded which gives it an almost mystical quality. The pictures here are an absolute delight and can actually stand alone with out the benefit of the text; they actually tell a story. This is an ideal work to use as a supplemental when teaching the children of the habits and live cycles of the creatures that we share the planet with. I have personally read this one to groups of children and can promise you that it stimulates much discussion. As an aside; I am pondering the question as to why a work such as this, one that is being and has been quite ignored has not receive the recognition of some works, that while are certainly good in their own right, are really no better than this one. As an example, I have before me at this writing two books. This one and a very fine work by Allen Say (one of my favorite authors). Say's book, Grandfather's Journey is a Caldecott Hone Medal winner and rightfully so. On the other hand, I am setting here comparing the Say book with the work being reviewed here. I find that in my opinion (for what ever that is worth) that the art work in both books is of equal quality and the text (prose) in both books is equal. It is possible that Home at Last: A Song of Migration is actually better written and has much more of a story to it. Now, I have read both of these works to classes of second and third graders. When I ask them if they want rereads of either book, they always choose the Sayre book being reviewed here. I cannot help but wonder if some of the award winners actually appeal more to the adult who is actually buying the book than they do the actual ultimate consumer...the child. Perhaps if the child had the opportunity to listen to one of the NPR radio droids gushing about this work or that work, they, the child might me more inclined to enjoy the award winning books. Now I note that most of the Caldecott winners are of a rather "artsy" nature and quite often deal with pressing social issues; both past and present. Again, I wonder if this d