Abiyoyo Book and CD

Rating:
Summary: A Tale Perfectly Suited to Young Imaginations
Review: Abiyoyo was an African folktale, adapted by folk singer Pete Seeger as a bedtime story for his children, and later used in his concerts. The story is brilliant in its gripping simplicity, perfectly suited to capture the attention of small children and spark their imaginations. A little boy who plays the ukulele and his father, who plays tricks on people by using a magic wand to make things disappear are run out of town because they are annoying everyone. Then a giant from the old days, who eats people alive, comes and threatens the town, and it is only the little boy and his dad, using the very talents that had annoyed everyone, who save the day, and become heroes.
This book is the very favorite of my two pre-school boys. Everyday they bring it to me repeatedly asking me to read it to them. Every night, they request it as their last bedtime story (the story is easy to memorize, and lends itself well to personal adaptations). My four-year old will "read" the book himself, turning through the pages and repeating the story that he has memorized. Abiyoyo has captured their imaginations, and even entered into their play.
The book's illustrations are intriguing. As I mentioned, this story was adapted from an African folktale, and the boy and his father are depicted appropriately in character. But the illustrator depicts the town in which they live as a global village, with the residents being of many races and cultures, all wearing classic costumes of those cultures. Originally, this concept put me off a bit - an impossible mish-mash village that seemed little more than a sop to political correctness for kids. But as I watched my kids react to the book, my opinion changed. The multitude of customs stirred their curiosity, and as I answered their questions about each one, I realized that these illustrations provided an excellent tool for introducing them to the concept of different cultures.
This is a quality product - a great, simple story, creative illustrations, and a nice CD included with two versions of Pete Seeger telling the story in his own voice. My boys and I give it our highest recommendation.


Rating:
Summary: abiyoyo
Review: Chrildren at my nursery school beg to hear this book over and over,I also love it and readily comply. We have the audio recording by Pete Seegar to accompany this story, he is a joy to listen to.

Rating:
Summary: Abiyoyo
Review: I am a teacher in a daycare and my kids love this book we use it to teach personal hygiene and relationships with parents. The copy I had was James Earl Jones narrating. A must have!

Rating:
Summary: Abiyoyo
Review: I am a teacher in a daycare and my kids love this book we use it to teach personal hygiene and relationships with parents. The copy I had was James Earl Jones narrating. A must have!

Rating:
Summary: A delightful storysong with subpar illustrations
Review: In a storysong based on a South African folktale, a young boy and his father are cast out of town because they annoy the townspeople with their ukulele playing and magic tricks. When the giant Abiyoyo comes to town wreaking havoc, the father and son save the day with the same ukulele music and magic.

Do yourself a favor and check out Seeger's performance, which is really is delightful - you can hear the children laughing at some parts and the adults at others. The book, however, falls a little flat for me. In print, the text seems dull and a little spare and, for a storysong, it has little rhythm. The illustrations aren't particularly remarkable, but the diversity of the townfolk is a little heavy-handed, with an Asian woman with chopsticks in her hair, an Indian woman with a bindi on her forehead, a Buddhist monk, a bearded man with a yarmulke, an American Indian man with braids and a feathered headband, and a man of indeterminate origin with a turban on his head and a monkey on his shoulder! With what we can hear in Seeger's performance, I wonder if a new edition with updated illustrations is in order. Also, I would be interested in knowing more about the tale this was based on - in a nice introduction honoring the tradition of oral storytelling, Seeger admits to building the story out of a footnote. I would be interested in knowing a bit more about the story's origins.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful story and lullaby
Review: My boys discovered this book at their preschool - both my two year old and the four year old adore the story and love the song that goes along with it (it's a Pete Seeger classic)! We now have a copy at home and it gets read aloud at least once a day. I highly recommend this book to anyone with young children - I just wish you carried the version with the audio tape and song. We can't seem to find it anywhere.

Rating:
Summary: Childhood favorite
Review: This book contains many elements that would make for an enjoyable child reading experience. These elements include wonderful illustrations, a terrible evil character, and characters of many ethnicities. The element that stands out the most from this story is the incorporation of music and sounds. A song fills at least six pages of the text and is a central factor in the story. Also, the use of onomatopoeia pervades the story with words like "zoop," "ztt," and "clunk." These are great at engaging the senses and the participation of young children. I also like the idea of showing unlikely heroes prevailing over evil in the end.

Rating:
Summary: Childhood favorite
Review: This book contains many elements that would make for an enjoyable child reading experience. These elements include wonderful illustrations, a terrible evil character, and characters of many ethnicities. The element that stands out the most from this story is the incorporation of music and sounds. A song fills at least six pages of the text and is a central factor in the story. Also, the use of onomatopoeia pervades the story with words like "zoop," "ztt," and "clunk." These are great at engaging the senses and the participation of young children. I also like the idea of showing unlikely heroes prevailing over evil in the end.

Rating:
Summary: my son loves this book
Review: This book was read to him on an episode of reading rainbow. He sang ABIYOYo all day and weeks after that. He loves this story. It's great for your little ones because it's folklore stories... and it keeps mom interested too.

Rating:
Summary: my son loves this book
Review: This book was read to him on an episode of reading rainbow. He sang ABIYOYo all day and weeks after that. He loves this story. It's great for your little ones because it's folklore stories... and it keeps mom interested too.