SkySisters

January 1, 2001
K-Gr 3-In this atmospheric picture book, two young Ojibway sisters go out into the winter night to view the Aurora Borealis, which their people call the SkySpirits. As they walk through the snow, they pluck icicles from a tree, see a beautiful white rabbit, and are startled by a large deer. On top of Coyote Hill, they catch snowflakes with open arms, listen to the voices of coyotes, make snow angels, and gaze at the stars. When the Northern Lights finally appear, the girls watch in silent awe, and then decide that the SkySpirits are really SkySisters. The standout component of this quiet book is Deines's artwork. His oil-on-canvas paintings are sometimes exuberant, sometimes mysterious, and always attractive. The girls' tender relationship is evident-the older sister is protective and the younger is mildly mischievous. The incident described here is lyrical rather than riveting, but the text and pictures work together to express the sense of wonder and excitement that surrounds the phenomenon of the Northern Lights.-Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Public Library, NY

Copyright 2000 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2002
K-Gr 3-In this atmospheric picture book, two young Ojibway sisters go out into the winter night to view the Aurora Borealis, which their people call the SkySpirits. As they walk through the snow, they pluck icicles from a tree, see a beautiful white rabbit, and are startled by a large deer. On top of Coyote Hill, they catch snowflakes with open arms, listen to the voices of coyotes, make snow angels, and gaze at the stars. When the Northern Lights finally appear, the girls watch in silent awe, and then decide that the SkySpirits are really SkySisters. The standout component of this quiet book is Deines's artwork. His oil-on-canvas paintings are sometimes exuberant, sometimes mysterious, and always attractive. The girls' tender relationship is evident-the older sister is protective and the younger is mildly mischievous. The incident described here is lyrical rather than riveting, but the text and pictures work together to express the sense of wonder and excitement that surrounds the phenomenon of the Northern Lights.-Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Public Library, NY

Copyright 2002 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2000
Ages 3-7. Waboose couches her big-and-little-sister story in Native American lore. Two Ojibway girls, big sister Allie and little sister Alex, venture out one cold night for an unclear purpose, following their grandmother's advice: "Wisdom comes on silent wings." Along the way, they encounter three guardian spirits: a rabbit, a deer, and a coyote. At last, they arrive at Coyote Hill, where they see the object of their journey: the Northern Lights, or SkySpirits, who dance in the frigid, starry sky. Deines' oil paintings contrast the warmth of the children's home with the frozen night and beautifully capture the feeling of the silence, the snow, and the cold. There's also a splendid depiction of the Northern Lights. By book's end, when the older sister renames the SkySpirits "SkySisters," it's plain how the simple journey has drawn the sisters together.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2001
Two modern-day Ojibwe girls play in the snow as they wait on a hill for the SkySpirits--the northern lights--to appear. The lengthy story contains some elements that are not fully explained. The illustrations are attractive but inconsistent: sometimes the older sister looks smaller than the younger narrator, even though their age difference is an important part of the story.

(Copyright 2001 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)