Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
Mirandy and Brother Wind
Illus. in full color."Mirandy is sure she'll win the cake walk if she can catch Brother Wind for her partner, but he eludes all the tricks her friends advise. This gets a high score for plot, pace, and characterization. Mirandy sparkles with energy and determination. Multi-hued watercolors fill the pages with patterned ferment. A treat to pass on to new generations."--(sta...more
Hardcover, 32 pages
Published
September 12th 1988
by Knopf Books for Young Readers
(first published 1988)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
328)
Even though I'm not a big fan of the wind (I live in a very windy place), I like how Jerry Pinkney has illustrated the wind here! The wind is treated as very nearly a real person in the text, and I like that he is illustrated as very nearly a real person as well. This is a fun one! I knew how it was going to end, but I still enjoyed reading it. I also really liked the author's note at the beginning so that we know Patricia McKissack's grandparents were cakewalk winners, and we are given a little...more
Mirand and Brother Wind by Patricia C. McKissack and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, is a beautifully written and illustrated chlidren’s story book. The book would make an amazing read-aloud choice for the many voices and characters that are present throughout, and the amazing illustrations that further complement the text. The story follows a young girl, Mirandy, who has one desire, to win the town cakewalk. Her mother tells her “There’s an old saying that whoever catch the Wind can make him do t...more
Author:Patricia C. McKissack
Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney
Genre: fiction picture book
Publication Info:Random House Children's Books (1997)
Reading Level: Ages 4-8; early transitional
Topic/Theme: imagination, culture,
Issues Addressed: children setting their minds to achieve a goal
Social Issues:cultural gatherings; Mirandy is attending a sort of "coming of age" cake walk. She must dance in the cake walk
Classroom Uses: independent reading, read aloud, paired reading
Summary: Mirandy is trying to win t...more
Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney
Genre: fiction picture book
Publication Info:Random House Children's Books (1997)
Reading Level: Ages 4-8; early transitional
Topic/Theme: imagination, culture,
Issues Addressed: children setting their minds to achieve a goal
Social Issues:cultural gatherings; Mirandy is attending a sort of "coming of age" cake walk. She must dance in the cake walk
Classroom Uses: independent reading, read aloud, paired reading
Summary: Mirandy is trying to win t...more
Summary: Mirandy is looking for a dance partner for a cakewalk. She hopes to capture the Wind and make him her partner. She does not even consider her clumsy pal, Ezel. With the help of a neighbor women and her "conjure" and present, Mirandy not only catches the Wind, but "blows the competition away" after an unlikely turn of events. The story is also based on a true story of her grandparents in the early twentieth century.
Audience: grades 1-3
Uses: Personification, theme, and inference are stro...more
Audience: grades 1-3
Uses: Personification, theme, and inference are stro...more
This is a Caldecott Honor book. It is a story of a little girl who believes that if she captures the wind, she will win first prize in the Junior Cakewalk. The story takes an interesting turn when Mirandy sticks up for one of her friends and decides to make him her partner in the dance - with help from the wind, Mirandy and Ezel give the town something to talk about for years to come. I think it is one of those stories your class would enjoy hearing aloud because the illustrations are so wonderf...more
May 04, 2009
Chandra
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
picture-books,
caldecott
In this story Mirandy wants to capture Brother Wind so he will be her partner for the upcoming cakewalk. Cakewalk in this context is an African-American tradition of competitive line dancing, not the modern carnival game. It's clear that Mirandy's sweet friend Ezel would love to be her partner, but Mirandy is too distracted by her determination to notice. She spends her day in various attempts to capture the elusive Brother Wind. The author tells the story in a folksy, but pleasant dialect that...more
This is a great story. Mirandy is so full of determination as she runs around trying to capture brother wind so that she can dance well at the cakewalk. Mirandy attempts to catch the wind with advice from others in town like Grandma Beasly said he was meant to be free. Mr. Jessup said to use pepper and throw a quilt over him while he sneezed. Mis. Poinsettia talked of a conjure spell. Mirandy also had an ideas on how to capture brother wind. These mini tales within the story make this a fun book...more
Apr 16, 2013
John Sullivan
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
multicultural-literature
Mirandy and Brother Wind is a wonderfully written and illustrated fiction book for children. I read it along with other Coretta Scott King Award winners and loved how well the pictures complemented the text. Mirandy wants to capture Brother Wind to be her partner in the upcoming cakewalk. She succeeds, but instead has Brother Wind help her and her friend Ezel win the cakewalk. The characters are dynamic and interesting, and even the wind was portrayed in a realistic fashion. In my future classro...more
In this story, Mirandy tries to catch the wind. She remember her grandmother telling her a story of whoever caught the wind would win the chair dance. Mirandy goes to many different people to ask for help on catching the wind. She catches the wind and he helps her and a partner win the dance. You can ask children what makes this story a fable and can people really catch the wind. The children can name other books that has false elements in it. A lot of folktales have events that happened that we...more
Jul 31, 2012
Sarah
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
caldecott-challenge,
picture-books
This story is based on the author's own grandparents and a "cakewalk" dance they performed as children. The main character, a girl named Mirandy, is planning to win the contest because she'll capture "Brother Wind" as her partner, but it turns out the wind is hard to capture. She tries various ways to catch the wind, but in the end ends up with her childhood friend, Ezel, as her partner. Sweet and simple story that gives us a flavor for the American South.
I believe that this book has great ethnic representation of the South. The words that tickled my fancy were gon' (gonna), chile (child),and also tol' (told). The Southern African American culture comes out. I love the cakewalk because I remember that being such a great event for me when I was younger and would watch my relatives take part in the challenge. Great experiences mentioned in the book that many children in the South could hopefully reflect on.
Sep 20, 2012
Amy Fretz
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
children-s-books,
picture-book
The pictures within this book are done by watercolor. This gives the images a whimsical quality much like the content of the book where the young girl is trying to catch the wind. The wind in the story is depicted as a nearly see through, light blue man. Creating a character for the wind makes it seem possible for Mirandy to catch him, but still makes him seem unreachable. Without the words the story is hard to understand and follow.
When you read the Author's Note, you will learn that the story is based on a photo of Patricia McKissack's grandparents dated 1906, five years before they mariried, as teenagers winning an elaborately decorated cake at a cakewalk. It also tells that the cakewalk was introduced in America by slaves and began as a dance. For me, knowing about the idea behind the story and how it was special to the author made the book more endearing.
Jan 26, 2010
L-Angelica Herrera-Vest
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
multicultural-literature
Personal response:I enjoyed the book but found some of the language used to be interesting. I would like to know what would be the best way to introduce a book like this one to children who are not African American and probalby do not recognize some of the dialect used. I had heard the word calkwalk but did not know the origin of the meaning. This book can also be listed under historical fiction because it talks about customs practiced by the Afro-American culture in history.
My niece and I read Mirandy and Brother Wind a couple of years ago, I guess. I enjoyed the book, thought it was fun and unique, but if I remember correctly, my niece found it to be a little confusing. As I've mentioned before, she's a very literal child, and the idea of dancing wind was just not something she could wrap her mind around.
The illustrations were lovely.
The illustrations were lovely.
Sep 25, 2008
Cherina
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
children-s-literature
Summary: Mirandy wishes to capture Brother Wind so that he can do her bidding. With the wind as her partner, Mirandy will be sure to win the cakewalk. Ezel, a clumsy young boy, teases Mirandy, saying that she will never be able to capture Brother Wind. Mirandy and Ezel partner to win the cakewalk (with the help of the wind).
Uses: This book is great for read-aloud in grades kindergarten through second. The sounds of the wind will be quite enjoyable for students to listen to. I would also recommen...more
Uses: This book is great for read-aloud in grades kindergarten through second. The sounds of the wind will be quite enjoyable for students to listen to. I would also recommen...more
This is a good story for teaching kids loyalty and determination. Mirandy was determined to catch the wind, but when she did she stay loyal to her friend and made her wish for him. The illustrations are very pretty. Not an inch of any page is left empty of illustration. I would definitely consider reading this book to my students.
Mirandy is sure she will win the junior cakewalk if she can partner with the win for the contest. The illustrations really capture the essence of the wind, hence the Caldecott honor. This multicultural text presents an event, the, cakewalk dance, that was first introduced by slaves. This book was inspired by the author's grandparents who won a cakewalk in 1906.
A neat cross-curricular activity might be to learn about a cakewalk dance in PE or to watch videos and learn how it's done. The students...more
A neat cross-curricular activity might be to learn about a cakewalk dance in PE or to watch videos and learn how it's done. The students...more
Apr 22, 2010
Ashley Sparks
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
multi-cultural
This is a book that you should read to yourself before reading to your students. The book uses broken English and you will find yourself stumbling over the words if you're not familiar with them like my supervising teacher did. I thought that it was a little advanced for first grade but it was a good story though.
This was one of my favorite books as a kid. I memorized and would have my grandma read it to me, and then I'd make her read it over if she ever forgot a word. I loved the thought of dancing with the wind. And I loved this story. Everything about it from the way it's told to the illustrations that are on each page.
Dec 01, 2010
Jessica
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
african-american-culture
Story of a young girl who want to win the county cakewalk. She tries to catch brother wind to be her partner cause then she would be sure to win. Mirandy finally catchs the wind but she decides her clumsy friend Ezel should beher partner instead. For months everyone talked about how great they were.
So Mirandy wants to win the "cakewalk", a dancing contest. She knows that if she captures Mister Wind she can get him to grant a wish, and that's just what she sets out to do - wish him into dancing with her. There's a very satisfying conclusion here, nothing much to say.
This is a story told about a girl named Mirandy and how she wanted to win the cake walk, so bad, that she hunted down Brother Wind and tried to catch him to be her partner. Will she catch Brother Wind and win?
Genre: Historic picture book
Reading Level: Transitional
Topics & Themes: Cakewalk. Being king to your friends.
Curricular Use: Shared reading: children can work through unfamiliar words and grammar together.
Social: Celebration of African-American culture. Competition: Mirandy did not want to dance with Klutz because would not win the cakewalk.
Literary Elements: Author note that introduces reader to the book's style and the concept/history of the cakewalk. Onomatopoeia: wind sounds, swish! swho...more
Reading Level: Transitional
Topics & Themes: Cakewalk. Being king to your friends.
Curricular Use: Shared reading: children can work through unfamiliar words and grammar together.
Social: Celebration of African-American culture. Competition: Mirandy did not want to dance with Klutz because would not win the cakewalk.
Literary Elements: Author note that introduces reader to the book's style and the concept/history of the cakewalk. Onomatopoeia: wind sounds, swish! swho...more
Mirandy is preparing to attend her first cakewalk and she's got her eyes on a special partner: the wind! She tries many schemes to trap Brother Wind and make him be her partner. Text is written in dialect and art looks like watercolor paint.
GR Level: R
NOT AVAILABLE
This is a story told about a girl named Mirandy and how she wanted to win the cake walk, so bad, that she hunted down Brother Wind and tried to catch him to be her partner. Will she catch Brother Wind and win?
NOT AVAILABLE
This is a story told about a girl named Mirandy and how she wanted to win the cake walk, so bad, that she hunted down Brother Wind and tried to catch him to be her partner. Will she catch Brother Wind and win?
Loved the story and information about the Cakewalk dance contest and how Mirandy will use Brother Wind's "help" to win the dance.
Caldecott Honor 1989 - Love the illustrations but I felt like I missed something in the reading of the story.
Dec 07, 2010
Leandra
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
children-s-books,
african-american
Folk talk about a little girl who wants to win a cake walk and attempts to capture and dance with the wind.
Oct 26, 2010
Brittany White
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
children-s-read-alouds
What a beautiful story. I love the illustrations and the quest of little Mirandy after Brother Wind.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia...
More about Patricia C. McKissack...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
May 05, 2009 08:45am