Read-Aloud Thursday

I have been out of pocket this past week, so I our here is our read-aloud from this week and last week. For October we are going with the Halloween-y theme of ravens.

Last week we read Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest by Gerald McDermott.

Like many other Gerald McDermott books, this is a visually stunning folk tale. This one is a retelling of a Native American trickster myth that explains how Raven stole the sun and placed it in the sky for humans. We loved it!

This week we read The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe and illustrated by Ryan Price.

As we have discussed alliteration in MCT Music of the Hemispheres, this was a perfect time to read The Raven! 

Despite the comment by this reviewer on amazon, I do think that the images in this book clearly show the sorrow of the man at loosing his love, respect the words of the poem, and clarify the meaning especially for younger readers. Mei said that the man in the book reminded her of the old man in Disney's movie Up. The pictures must be pretty clear if a 10yo got it. 

The book is filled with pictures of Lenore and the raven is drawn as a sort of macabre shadow, so that you aren't sure if he is really there. In fact after-

And the lamplight o'er him streaming

throws his shadow on the floor;

And my soul from out that shadow

that lies floating on the floor

Shall be lifted -

On the last page with the single word nevermore is a drawing of the man squatting on the floor scratching the shadow of the raven, but the way it is drawn it allows you to question if he is actually tracing his own shadow. This was a wonderful purchase that I plan to keep on my bookself for years to come.