Snook Alone
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
A faithful little dog must survive on his own in the wild in this evocative tale of loss and reunion from acclaimed poet Marilyn Nelson and the inimitable Timothy Basil Ering. (Ages 4-7) Abba Jacob is a monk who lives on a far, far away island with his loyal rat terrier, Snook. Every day, from the wee hours of dawn till the sun sets over the sea, Snook keeps Abba Jacob company as he prays or works, tending the gardens or fixing the plumbing of the little hermitage he calls home. But when the two are separated by a ferocious storm, Snook must learn to fend for himself in the wild, all alone in a world of fierceness and wonder. Will he ever again hear the loving voice that he waits for? Simply and lyrically told by award-winning poet Marilyn Nelson and beautifully illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering with wit, warmth, and affection for the natural world, this captivating tale of friendship lost and found conveys the power of faith against all odds.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Nelson (Sweethearts of Rhythm) writes with extraordinary sensitivity about a terrier marooned on a small island. Her prose is taut as a rope, and Ering s (Finn Throws a Fit!) brilliantly drafted artwork sweeps across the wild waves and portrays every sort of island life. Snook is left behind when his beloved master, a monk named Abba Jacob, has to abandon an island census and put out to sea as a storm threatens; Snook waits faithfully for his return. In the silence, he listened. The wind was his breathing. The waves were his breath. Snook can eat and drink and forage for himself, and though he pines for Abba Jacob he learns that the island offers many amusements, like rolling in smelly flotsam: Thus camouflaged, Snook stalked his island in a wolf-size cloud of stink. The rats didn t know what hit them. A shark attacks a sea turtle and wounds her; another maimed turtle lays her eggs as Snook watches; these wrenching moments may disturb sensitive readers, and the story s complex vocabulary may require explanations. But Nelson s moving portrait of Snook and his triumphant reunion should win a wide and enthusiastic audience. Ages 4 7.
