Book Summary:
For being written in 1982, I am pleased to note that it is dedicated to Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children, sailors and maidens.The main character is Alice. She lived by the sea and loved listening to her grandfather tell his stories of travel. She was very close to her grandfather and she loved to help him in his gallery, by painting the skys.
Her goal was to travel and when she grew old she wanted to live by the sea. HEr grandfather told her she needed to do one more thing, and that was the making the world a better place.
She didn't know that would be but as she grew and traveled, she experienced the world and its beauty. After she hurt her back, she laid in bed and thought about how she can make the world a better place. Her beautification was to throw lupine seeds everywhere she went. The following spring purple, blue and rose colored flowers were every where.
For being written in 1982, I am pleased to note that it is dedicated to Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children, sailors and maidens.The main character is Alice. She lived by the sea and loved listening to her grandfather tell his stories of travel. She was very close to her grandfather and she loved to help him in his gallery, by painting the skys.
Her goal was to travel and when she grew old she wanted to live by the sea. HEr grandfather told her she needed to do one more thing, and that was the making the world a better place.
She didn't know that would be but as she grew and traveled, she experienced the world and its beauty. After she hurt her back, she laid in bed and thought about how she can make the world a better place. Her beautification was to throw lupine seeds everywhere she went. The following spring purple, blue and rose colored flowers were every where.
APA Reference of Book
Cooney, B. (1982). Miss Rumphius. New York: Viking Press.
Impressions
The drawings and colors are beautiful. The message this book has, is a powerful one. The message of leaving the Earth a better place and more beautiful than when you found it, is a message that still needs to be shared in today's times.
The drawings and colors are beautiful. The message this book has, is a powerful one. The message of leaving the Earth a better place and more beautiful than when you found it, is a message that still needs to be shared in today's times.
Professional Review
Starting tomorrow, we celebrate National Wildflower Week (May 6-12th), created by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, to “encourage the observations, cultivations, and study of native wildflowers.” Today’s book, Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney, completely embodies the spirit of this week. In this story, a spinster librarian travels around the world and eventually returns to a home by the sea. Wanting to make the world a more beautiful place, she decides to scatter lupine seeds wherever she goes.
Published in November of 1982, when Barbara Cooney lived in Damariscotta, Maine, Miss Rumphius was one of hundreds of books that Cooney, a two-time winner of the Caldecott Award, illustrated in her lifetime. By the time she worked on Miss Rumphius, she had over forty years of experience in children’s book illustrations. An autobiographical picture book, Cooney drew on the life of her great grandfather, who painted pictures and allowed his young daughter, Cooney’s grandmother, to help. “I see that little girl—painting away, making yards and yards of fluffy clouds and sunsets and storms with lightening and rainbows.” Cooney also based the character of Alice Rumphius on an historical figure who traveled the world planting flower seeds. Probably even more important, Alice became what Cooney described as her “alter ego.” She later mused, “Perhaps she had been that right from the start.”
What makes Miss Rumphius memorable for many young readers, however, is the exquisite artwork, executed in the purples, pinks, and blues of the lupines—breathtaking landscapes marked by their beauty and soft color. With its positive and idealistic message of making the world a more beautiful place, this book has captivated both young readers and the parents and teachers who share the book with them. It reminds all of us that with just a little effort we can add beauty to our world.
If you are planting wildflower seeds, pick up a copy of Miss Rumphius, a great read-aloud for kindergarten through third grade, and share it with children and adult friends—both will love it. Not only does Alice Rumphius make the world a more beautiful place by scattering lupines in the story, but Barbara Cooney enhanced our visual world by giving us this breathtaking picture book that we can return to again and again.
A. S. (2011, May 5). Book-A-Day Almanac. Retrieved from http://childrensbookalmanac.com/2011/05/miss-rumphius/
Library Uses
This book can be used for all grade level in elementary. For the older grades, ecology and ways that they could help without costing a lot of money. The younger ones, colors, discussing wildflowers, and how the flowers add to the ecology. How flowers also add to the landscape.
This book can be used for all grade level in elementary. For the older grades, ecology and ways that they could help without costing a lot of money. The younger ones, colors, discussing wildflowers, and how the flowers add to the ecology. How flowers also add to the landscape.
