The Earth Is My Mother
Grade 5-8-A book that tries to do too much. Fifth-grader Sarah Stewart is alternately na ve and precociously knowledgeable about all aspects of life in the canyons of the Southwest. Her recently deceased mother was a photographer and nature lover. After a terrifying nightmare suggests a course of action for her, Sarah runs away on a kind of spirit quest to seek a way to save her mother's beloved Magic Canyon, soon to be destroyed by developers. She is accompanied by an American Indian guide whom she later discovers was not alive, but instead was a kind of naturalist "guardian spirit." Her quest includes observation and photography of natural phenomena, survival techniques, frightening encounters with wildlife and the humans who are looking for her, and stories from Native traditions about the interconnectedness of living things. The book is nicely illustrated with Doolittle's signature artwork, including black-and-white pencil sketches overlaid with detailed color paintings. At the end of the novel, these pictures come together to create a picture of a woman embedded in the scenes of canyon life that Sarah has captured with her camera. It is this picture, of "Mother Earth," along with contrived events that save the Magic Canyon. Ambitious in scope and somewhat didactic in tone, this book will have the most appeal to adults interested in Doolittle's dramatic illustrations.Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, LaramieCopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.