How do you stir the child's imagination? How do we pass on our
values? How do bring the child to love books; to see reading not as a chore but
as an exploration? Eura De Freitas has introduced answers to these questions,
not in an essay and not in the latest scholarly journal, but in her new
children's book: Metamorphosis! This Caribbean-born writer, award -winning poet
and educator, takes us from the Mediterranean to Africa; from living in the skin
of the Iguana, to carrying the weight of an elephant. Her detailed and immersive
illustrations, swift narration and dialogue, draw us into the world of Alpha the
Ant. And while we may contemplate the societal implications of this little ant's
desire to escape "work work", "stealing" his meals from
humans, never getting outside of the neighborhood, "living in fear"
and that need to "fly", children will simply love the pictures and the
neat story! Animal-Rights Activists may ruminate over Janvier the jaguar's fear
that he may be shot for his skin, feminists may investigate why Queenie the
quail "didn't want to be a girl" and scientists may be fascinated by
Xerina the chromosome; sociologists may examine the social stratification of
tree monkeys and zoo monkeys, but kids, kids will just have a ball as Alpha goes
from Queenie the quail to Casper the cat; Vinny the vicuna or Buster the bat.
