Coconut Kind of Day
Copyright © 2008 www.lynnjosephbooks.com
Summary: These thirteen poems follow young Rosie through her entire day in Trinidad from the time she awakes to the bedtime noises she hears before she goes to sleep. Along the way, Rosie is late for school, has a snail race with her best friend and helps pull in the seine (fishing nets), while getting her school uniform sandy and wet.
Reviews:
These 13 verses, nostalgic and sweet, portray a child's life in Trinidad, where the "pom da de de de dom pom" of the steel drums and the sight of "Mama gone to market . . . balancing her wicker basket / like the Star of Bethlehem" are everyday occurrences. The child-narrator of the poems tells of buying treats from the coconut man, of helping the fishermen "pullin' seine," of seeing the "rows of scarlet ibis / race across the sky / chasing the red ball sun / into the sea." The authentic portrayal of island routine offers young readers an intriguing look at another culture, made accessible by reference to topics of interest to children. Looking burnished, as if by the sun, Speidel's lush paintings capture the vibrancy of this exotic locale, and Joseph's rhythmic poems evoke vivid sights and sounds. Ages 6-9.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 1-4-- Joseph's 13 brief poems recall a day in the life of a family in Trinidad. "Morning Songs" begins with a rooster singing "coc-a-toodle-too" from a galvanized gate. "Night Songs" ends the volume with a mongoose, matapel, and agouti calling out. In between, a little girl sets off for school in her blue-and-white uniform, older boys play cricket, a father buys a treat from the coconut man. Poems that describe "Pullin' Seine," (net fishing), a reggae band, and the "The Jumbi Man" add to the Caribbean flavor. Joseph frequently incorporates island speech patterns into her work. Speidel's illustrations add enormously to the book's appeal. Double-page spreads in soft, muted shades of blue, rose, gold, and green show the poems superimposed on one side. Textured paper lends interest to scenes such as a brother swimming underwater and scarlet ibis chasing the sun across the sky. A gentle, nostalgic, loving recollection about growing up in another part of the world. --Ellen D. Warwick, Robbins Library, Arlington, MA
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information,
These 13 verses, nostalgic and sweet, portray a child's life in Trinidad, where the "pom da de de de dom pom" of the steel drums and the sight of "Mama gone to market . . . balancing her wicker basket / like the Star of Bethlehem" are everyday occurrences. The child-narrator of the poems tells of buying treats from the coconut man, of helping the fishermen "pullin' seine," of seeing the "rows of scarlet ibis / race across the sky / chasing the red ball sun / into the sea." The authentic portrayal of island routine offers young readers an intriguing look at another culture, made accessible by reference to topics of interest to children. Looking burnished, as if by the sun, Speidel's lush paintings capture the vibrancy of this exotic locale, and Joseph's rhythmic poems evoke vivid sights and sounds. Ages 6-9.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 1-4-- Joseph's 13 brief poems recall a day in the life of a family in Trinidad. "Morning Songs" begins with a rooster singing "coc-a-toodle-too" from a galvanized gate. "Night Songs" ends the volume with a mongoose, matapel, and agouti calling out. In between, a little girl sets off for school in her blue-and-white uniform, older boys play cricket, a father buys a treat from the coconut man. Poems that describe "Pullin' Seine," (net fishing), a reggae band, and the "The Jumbi Man" add to the Caribbean flavor. Joseph frequently incorporates island speech patterns into her work. Speidel's illustrations add enormously to the book's appeal. Double-page spreads in soft, muted shades of blue, rose, gold, and green show the poems superimposed on one side. Textured paper lends interest to scenes such as a brother swimming underwater and scarlet ibis chasing the sun across the sky. A gentle, nostalgic, loving recollection about growing up in another part of the world. --Ellen D. Warwick, Robbins Library, Arlington, MA
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information,
Inspiration:
This was the first children’s book I wrote and the first one that was published. I had wanted to write adult novels, but I was just out of college and was working as an editorial assistant for Harper & Row, Publishers (now called HarperCollins). I was assisting two amazingly talented but quite different editors, Laura Geringer and Joanna Cotler. It was working for those two children’s book editors that developed, not only my love for the wonder and magic of children’s books, but my writing skills too. I learned about developing a plot structure, and how to bring a story to a satisfying conclusion just from watching them edit some of the classic children’s books we have today.
Anyway, it was my first summer living away from my island home of Trinidad. Every year, I spent the summer in Trinidad, but now that I had a real job, I had to stay in New York City and go to work. Every day at lunch time, I sat outside the Time Life building next to the sparkling water fountains and closed my eyes, imagining I was back home. I let the sun warm me, the sound of the water soothe me and my mind wandered to life in the islands. In August, after two months of sitting by the fountain reminiscing of home, I went back to the office and dashed off all thirteen poems that make up Coconut Kind of Day.
As I was writing the poems the structure was forming at the same time, so it became a day in the life of an island child from early morning to bedtime. I called her Rosie because my first best friend in kindergarten in Trinidad was named Rosalie. In fact, the two girls I remember most from my childhood are Rosalie and Jasmine who went to school with me and I have used their names over and over throughout all of my books. Today, my best friend’s daughter is named Jasmine, so I feel as if that name is always with me.
Coconut Kind of Day is very special to me since it was the first children’s book I ever wrote and I was amazed when it was accepted for publishing by the first publisher I sent the manuscript to: Dinah Stevenson at Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
This was the first children’s book I wrote and the first one that was published. I had wanted to write adult novels, but I was just out of college and was working as an editorial assistant for Harper & Row, Publishers (now called HarperCollins). I was assisting two amazingly talented but quite different editors, Laura Geringer and Joanna Cotler. It was working for those two children’s book editors that developed, not only my love for the wonder and magic of children’s books, but my writing skills too. I learned about developing a plot structure, and how to bring a story to a satisfying conclusion just from watching them edit some of the classic children’s books we have today.
Anyway, it was my first summer living away from my island home of Trinidad. Every year, I spent the summer in Trinidad, but now that I had a real job, I had to stay in New York City and go to work. Every day at lunch time, I sat outside the Time Life building next to the sparkling water fountains and closed my eyes, imagining I was back home. I let the sun warm me, the sound of the water soothe me and my mind wandered to life in the islands. In August, after two months of sitting by the fountain reminiscing of home, I went back to the office and dashed off all thirteen poems that make up Coconut Kind of Day.
As I was writing the poems the structure was forming at the same time, so it became a day in the life of an island child from early morning to bedtime. I called her Rosie because my first best friend in kindergarten in Trinidad was named Rosalie. In fact, the two girls I remember most from my childhood are Rosalie and Jasmine who went to school with me and I have used their names over and over throughout all of my books. Today, my best friend’s daughter is named Jasmine, so I feel as if that name is always with me.
Coconut Kind of Day is very special to me since it was the first children’s book I ever wrote and I was amazed when it was accepted for publishing by the first publisher I sent the manuscript to: Dinah Stevenson at Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
