The Bird who Sang Away Death

Hans Christian Anderson: The Nightingale

Written and Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

Published by Phyllis Fogelman Books

Copyright 2002

34 pages

Traditional Literature: Fairy Tale

 

I chose this book because of the author. Jerry Pinkney is an award winning author and illustrator, so I assumed any book of his must be good. The tale is originally told in the China origin. Pinkney retells this story in Morocco, Northwest Africa. This talk is about a famous tiny bird who sings the most beautiful songs. In the story, the king received a mechanical bird that was supposed to be as great at Nightingale. The king becomes sick and only the true Nightingale is able to help him. He sings away death, and the king is forever thankful.

The illustrations in this book are done through graphite, gouache, and watercolor on paper. Combining these different types of paintings is called mixed media. The illustrations are amazing. They do a magnificent job at displaying the details and beauty of this African culture. The text placement is formal with borders around the pictures and text pages. The colors in these illustrations are vibrant and exuberating.

The teacher could use this book in a classroom in a Language Arts lesson on compare and contrast. The students could compare the culture in this book to their own culture. The teacher could also use this book in a Geography lesson. The teacher could talk about China and Morocco, and she could show the students the locations on a map. Then the students could practice their map skills and find more countries on a map. The teacher could also use this book in a writing assignment. The students could write about the bird, Nightingale. They could do a character sketch, and describe the personality traits of this bird.