Carolina Shout! - Hardcover

Ages 4^-8. As with their previous collaboration, Ragtime Tumpie (1989), Schroeder and Fuchs beautifully evoke a neglected facet of pre^-World War II African American life. All day long, Delia hears the music of Charleston, South Carolina. She finds it in the sounds of raindrops, the croaking of bullfrogs, and the squeaking of the rusty iron gate. Most musical of all are the shouts--the short, rhythmic songs of street vendors and work crews. From the cheery morning cries of the "Vegetubble Maumas" ("Red rose to-may-toes! / Green peas! Green peas!" ) to the lonely evening call of the Charcoal Man ("Char-coal! Dime a bucket! / I walk in de moon light, / I walk in de starlight, / I lay dis body down. . . ." ), the shouts frame the Charleston day. Luminous oil paintings in ruddy golds and browns portray not only the criers, but also the heat and haze of the Charleston streets. A brilliant smile, a pair of bright eyes, an azalea-pink dress glow against smoky backgrounds. Further information and sources for the shouts are provided in an author's note. An irresistible tribute to a vanished urban lyricism. Leone McDermott

Grade 2-4?Schroeder and Fuchs follow up Ragtime Tumpie (Little, 1989), the exquisite picture story of Josephine Baker, with an equally beautiful book about Charleston street vendors. Young Delia can hear music in everyday sounds?raindrops, laughter, the squeak of a gate, and the creak of a wheel. The best songs arise from the throats of the city's workers as they start the day: the carpenters who sing in time to their hammering; the early-morning vegetable-market vendors; the Waffle Man; the chimney sweeps; and, late in the evening, the Charcoal Man whose plaintive cries echo down the quiet street. Each of the city's cast of characters is accompanied by one of Fuchs's magical oil paintings, each one successively more enchanting than the last. The features of his people are painted in meticulous detail, standing out over hazy backgrounds of light and shadow. Each person looks out of the page, appealing directly to viewers; their shouts all say "Wouldn't you like to buy?" and the answer is a resounding "Yes!"?Ruth Semrau, formerly at Lovejoy School, Allen, TX
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.