“Orani: My Father’s Village” is a great book for several reasons. First, Nivola presents the Sardinian village, Orani, where her father was born and grew up. She describes her memories of visiting the village many times as a child. The story is mostly of her childhood memories as she visits with her cousins and experiences life in the small village, including the small businesses owned by family, the festivals, and all the warmth and excitement of summer. Second, Nivola’s lovely illustrations capture the life and color of the small village, as well as the wilderness of the surrounding mountains and hills. The vibrant colors and simple drawings combine perfectly to show the easy, happy life she encounters when visiting Orani as a child. Another reason I like the book is there is a lengthy “Author’s Note” at the end of the book. These pages talk about the childhood of the author’s father and his family’s experiences in leaving Orani, along with her own feelings about the small village when she returned as an adult. The last page contains a map of the island of Sardinia. This is a lovely book. It is a somewhat idealized vision of a child’s memories of life in a small, rural town. Some children would be able to relate to this book, as it is part of their every day life. It will be of more interest to those who came as children or adults from similar small towns. Overall, this book is about the author’s childhood memories of visiting the village where her father grew up and, enjoying the easy, simple life that is so different from her life at home. ( )

The author creates a beautiful tribute to the small Sardinian village where her father was born and raised in a large family with many siblings. ( )

Orani: My father’s village by Claire Nivola

The Text: In lush, breathtaking prose, Nivola presents the Sardinian village where her father was born and grew up and which she visited often as a child. Her childhood memories form the bulk of the book, as she visits cousins and experiences all the life of the small village, including the small businesses, often owned by family, the festivals, and all the warmth and excitement of summer.

The Illustrations: Nivola’s lovely illustrations capture the life and color of the small village, as well as the wilderness of the surrounding mountains and hills. The vibrant colors and and simple houses combine to perfectly show the simple, happy life she experienced as a child.

The Extras: A lengthy author’s note talks about her childhood and family’s experiences in leaving Orani and her own feelings about the small village when she returned. The endpapers contain drawn maps of the Mediterranean and the island of Sardinia.

Verdict: This is a lovely book, but I have trouble seeing an audience for it. It is a somewhat idealized vision of a child’s memories of life in a small, rural town. Some children may be interested in the exotic feel of the very different experiences and the illustrations are attractive, but it’s appeal to the children in general is limited. It will be of more interest to adults, especially those who immigrated as children from similar small towns.

ISBN: 978-0374356576; Published July 2011 by Farrar Straus Giroux; Borrowed from the library

This is a telling of a village in Sardinia where the author used to visit with her father. Her father emigrated to America during the wars because the city was very behind technologically and poor. The book is not really much of a story but a long desciption of the village.

I wasn't much of a fan of this as a picture book. I am unsure how I would use it for a classroom read-aloud. I did, however, very much enjoy that the book was illustrated by the author's father who was raised in Orani and who took the author there on many summer trips. ( )

Through a wonderful map on the endpapers, readers are drawn into a tiny Mediterranean village. Her father grew up in Orani, one of ten children and very poor. Claire returned to the town with her father years later, and this book is a tribute to the village and to the culture and family that it represents. Nivola's detailed watercolor art is just as charming in this tribute as in her picture book biography of Wangari Mathaai. She creates such a sense of perspective that ,as a reader, you have the feeling that you're walking through the village streets with her. (A great book for teaching setting). And it's a great book for sharing during a memoir unit as it captures moments. Donald Murray coined the phrase "strings too short to save." And this book reminds me of that phrase. If explored on a deep level, the book can force kids to take a look at those small important moments and think of ways to describe them: "We paused to eat around tables covered with a simple cotton cloth, in kitchens filled with aunts, uncles, and cousins, all speaking at once." ( )