Abiyoyo: Based on a South African Lullaby and Folk Story by Pete Seeger, Michael Hays (Illustrator)

Product Details

Synopsis

Once there was a little boy who played the ukelele. Wherever he'd go he'd play, Clink, clunk, clonk. His father was a magician. Wherever he'd go, he'd make things disappear, Zoop! Zoop! Soon the townspeople grew tired of the boy's noise and his father's tricks, and banished both of them to the edge of town.

There they lived, until one day the terrible giant Abiyoyo appeared. He was as tall as a tree, and it was said that he could eat people up. Everyone was terrified, except the boy and his father, and they came up with a plan to save the town....

Pete Seeger's storysong, made up for his own children, finds its perfect match in Michael Hays's masterful paintings. As a special bonus, this edition includes a CD of Pete performing two different versions of "Abiyoyo." You'll love to follow and sing along as you listen to Pete tell this richly vivid and exciting story.

Annotation

American folk singer Pete Seeger retells a South African folktale about a boy and his father who, after being banished from town for making mischief, are welcomed back when they find a way to make the dreaded giant, Abiyoyo, disappear. Accompanying CD includes two versions of Pete Seeger performing the "storysong."

Children's Literature

Abiyoyo is a terrible giant who threatens to eat livestock and people in one gulp. A boy with his ukulele sings to him. He gets the giant dancing and spinning so fast he falls down. Then the boy's magician father uses his magic wand to dispatch the monster. The illustrations depict a town populated with a multicultural melange of people and Abiyoyo is cast as an abstraction of everyone's fears. Reissue of 1986 book. 1994, (orig.

Biography

Pete Seeger is a national treasure, arguably the most influential figure in American folk music as well as an important advocate of social causes. He lives in Beacon, New York.

Michael Hays has illustrated several picture books, including the sequel to Abiyoyo, Abiyoyo Returns. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.