Jean-Paul Hébert Was There/Jean-Paul Hébert Etait Là (English and French Edition)
Grade 1-4-Hebert-Collins uses a fictional family to explain the plight and progression of events that took the French Acadians from Canada to Louisiana in the 1700s. The conversational text, in both French and English, reads like a grandparent telling a family history. Unfortunately, the story glosses over the interaction between Acadian settlers and the Indians of Canada and too easily reunites the father with his family after their forced separation by British soldiers. However, other details about the persecution and deportation of the Acadians and the interim time they spent in Pennsylvania and Georgia are vital elements of Cajun history that are not widely known. Bergeron's watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations are well matched to the text but are sometimes too sketchy to be appealing. Though neither the writing nor the artwork is outstanding, this serviceable treatment of the subject makes this book worth consideration for libraries in Louisiana and other parts of the Gulf South where Cajun culture is celebrated.Sean George, Memphis-Shelby County Public Library & Information Center, Memphis, TNCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.