Colonial Voices: Hear Them Speak
by Kay Winters
Illustrated by Larry Day
Dutton Juvenile, c2008 unpaged
ISBN 978-0-525-47872-0
Reviewed by Jane D. O'Donoghue
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Recently, children's author Kay Winters was presented the Carol
Otis Hurst Award at the Westfield (MA) Athenaeum. This prize is bestowed in
recognition of outstanding books written for children that feature the New
England Experience portrayed through fiction or non-fiction.
This year's prize entry is Kay Winter's book ,Colonial Voices: Hear Them Speak that tells the story through the eyes of Ethan, a printer's orphaned errand boy. "It's December 16, 1773 and tension is growing in Boston," says a tease written on the back cover of the book. Ethan walks through local shops dropping off leaflets announcing a meeting at Old South church that night. He visits the baker, teacher, shoemaker and other merchants and businesses who acknowledge the message in their own voices. Why is he doing this? What is happening? Read the book and follow his errand with wonderfully detailed illustrations by Larry Day which authentically depict the city of Boston in 1773, of interest at any age and grade level. Kay Winters is a prolific writer for children who has been a teacher, poet, lecturer, consultant, adventurer, and world traveler. She has received five book awards from various foundations and studies. There are eight of her books currently in print and available in libraries. One of her special joys is visiting schools and meeting students and teachers. I interviewed Kay after she received she received the Carol Otis Hurst Children's Book Prize award at the Athenaeum. She was open, friendly, and willing to talk about the trials and tribulations of writing and the market today. Accompanied by her husband Earl, her right hand man, she travels the country promoting her books. Carol Otis Hurst was a local author, teacher, school librarian, children's literature consultant, lecturer, and a delightful storyteller. She was born in Westfield, Massachusetts, and her many books of historical fiction include moments and background of New England in the past. Much of her work is culled from her family stories. Her first book, Through the Lock, tells of orphaned children in the 19th century and is set around the Farmington canal in Western Massachusetts, during the short-lived world of canals in New England. It provides insight into the lives of orphaned and runaway children and their attempt to survive on their own. Hurst's, Torchlight, is about Westfield, Massachusetts around the 1850s and is based on an actual event. The story is wound around the friendship of two young girls. One is a Yankee and the other Irish Catholic. When they play together at school, the Yankee girl is bullied and the Irish one is ostracized. This proves difficult for both. In that time of violent racial activity, there was an attempt to burn the original St. Mary's Church. This is a powerful story at a middle school level. Other books by Hurst are set in Becket and Plymouth. She had completed a new book, One Thimble, Three Bicycles and a Bit of Ingenuity which had yet to be released by Houghton Mifflin when she died. After Carol's death, at the age of 73 in 2007, her daughters and the Westfield Athenaeum established a book prize to celebrate her life. This award of $500.00 is presented annually. Entries are restricted to themes of the New England experience, written for school children, fiction or non-fiction and must have been copyrighted in their original format during the calendar year, January 1 to December 31, of the year preceding the year in which the prize is awarded. For further information and entry forms, contact the Carol Otis Hurst Children's Book Prize, Westfield Athenaeum, 6 Elm Street, Westfield, MA 01095, or call 413-568-7833 with any additional questions. JANE O'DONOGHUE IS A RETIRED SCHOOL LIBRARIAN AND AVID READER. A FREELANCE WRITER, HER WORK HAS APPEARED IN LOCAL PUBLICATIONS. SHE TRIES TO KEEP AU COURANT IN THE FIELD OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS AND ADMIRES THE MANY TALENTED WRITERS WHO PRODUCE QUALITY WORKS FOR THE YOUNG. © The Arts, etc., Copyright 2009 |