Marie-Louise FitzpatrickReviews

In early May of this year (2020), donors in Ireland contributed some $500,000, in just 48 hours, toward relief efforts for the Navajo and Hopi nations of the American southwest, suffering terribly during this current Coronavirus outbreak. Many of them cited the Choctaw aid given to the Irish people during the Great Famine of 1847 as an inspiration for their gifts. This aid, in the form of $170 - the equivalent of around $5000 today - was collected at a time when the Choctaw themselves were suffering terribly. Forced westward from their homeland in Mississippi, they endured the "Long March" toward what was then Indian Territory, and is now the state of Oklahoma. Government aid, in the form of blankets and food, that was promised to the Choctaw to get them to agree to leave, never materialized. Starvation and suffering were rampant on their forced winter-time exodus, and many died along the way. When the ground was too cold and hard to allow for graves, the bodies of the dead had to be abandoned. Fifteen years later, still plagued by the poverty and suffering resulting from this injustice, an injustice visited upon them by other European and Euro-American peoples, the Choctaw responded to a Quaker call for funds to help the Irish people during their own time of great suffering.

Irish author/artist Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick explores this story in her deeply moving, beautifully told, and beautifully illustrated picture-book, first published in Dublin in 1998. It is the story of Choona, a young Choctaw boy just on the verge of manhood, who learns, through community discussion of this call for aid, the true story of his own people and family's experiences. Hitherto, his parents and great-grandmother - the eldest surviving member of the tribe - had never spoken of the Long March. Angry and confused, at first Choona isn't sure that he wants his family to donate. Why didn't we fight back, he wants to know - why didn't we refuse to leave our land? And why should we care about these people so far away? His great-grandmother explains that their people did what they felt they had to, to survive. Their mistake, she elaborates, was in not sharing their story with their children. The revelation that Choona had an elder brother he never got to meet, an elder brother who died at the age of one, during the Long March, is what changes his perspective. His newfound sense of loss, his realization of what he could have had, if the promised aid had been given to his people, and his elder brother had lived, leads him to decide that aid should be sent...

I read The Long March: The Choctaw's Gift to Irish Famine Relief when it was first published in the states, back in 1999, and I reread it during my children's literature masters programs, which I took at an Irish university. Today, after learning of the recent spate of Irish donations toward the Navajo and Hopi, I reread it again. It is a beautifully told book, one that had me in tears on more than one occasion, and it is beautifully illustrated, in detailed pencil drawings. Fitzpatrick spent a great deal of time visiting with the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma, and the people in her book are based on character studies she did of real Choctaw individuals. The cultural details - the language, the objects used, the social customs - are all authentic, and the result of much research and consultation with the Choctaw. The foreword here is written by Choctaw artist Gary White Deer, and the book comes recommended by Gregory E. Pyle, who was the Choctaw Chief, at the time of publication. I cannot recommend this book highly enough! Informative, engrossing, poignant and uplifting, it is a truly beautiful work, and is one I would push on everyone with an interest in Irish history, Native American history, or in the way in which our deeds, whether as individuals or as a group, echo down through the generations. Choona's great-grandmother says, when addressing the community, that "our help will be like an arrow shot through time. It will land many winters from now to wait as a blessing for our unborn generations." Can there be any better proof of the truth of these words, than the famine relief that the Irish and Choctaw have taken together, in recent decades, or in the recent spate of donations flowing from Ireland to the Najavo and Hopi?

Read this book! It can be found for free on The Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/longmarch00mari

And then donate some money to the Navajo and Hopi, if you can. I know I plan to!:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/NHFC19Relief

A mother reminisces about a sea voyage she took with her young son in this humorous picture-book from Irish author/illustrator Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, describing the events, and continually telling him he wouldn't remember, as he was still a baby. The son, as it turns out, remembers quite a bit that his mother doesn't, recalling all the things he noticed - men falling overboard, and the like - that she didn't...

The humor and entertainment in You, Me and the Big Blue Sea is created through the disjunction of text and image, as the mother recalls something through words, while the son recalls them through visuals. This allows the child reader/listener to be "in the know," and to identify with the young boy. The setting is historical - Victorian, perhaps? - and the ship an old-fashioned sailing vessel, which adds visual charm. The text itself is rhythmical and repetitive, making for a smooth read-aloud. Recommended to anyone looking for picture-books featuring seafaring voyages and/or textual-illustrative disagreement.

I am I is a powerful book about what happens when a group of people see themselves as “king” and become intolerant with others. The book uses powerful images and colors on each page. The line that stuck with me the most was “I am I, and I am sorry”.

Great to show that families can look different but are the same when caring.

This is wordless book about a family of bats and a family of owls. The mother/father owl doesn’t want their baby owls to play with the baby bats. Later on the mother/father owl sees no harm with interacting with each other.

At some point in life, adults come across that one kid that just seems to be in a bad mood. You can try all you want but nothing seems to work. Sometimes it just takes a sibling to turn that frown upside down. These family issues do happen and can be solved. This book has very few words and heavily relies on the illustrations to convey what is going on in the story.

When a bat family move in underneath them, the mother owl whose brood already live on the branch in question isn't too happy, and discourages her owlets from befriending the baby bats. The bat mother seems to feel the same. Then a terrible storm comes and scatters all, owl and bat. In gathering their children again, both mothers end up helping one another, ushering in a new period of friendship between the two families.

Told without words, Owl Bat Bat Owl is the latest from Irish author/artist Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, and addresses issues of social prejudice and exclusion, and how a crisis can sometimes bring people (or owls and bats) together. I enjoyed the artwork here - always important, in a wordless picture-book! - and think it does an excellent job conveying the story. The owl and bat characters are adorable, and their story will find a receptive audience with younger children. Recommended to anyone looking for stories about tolerance and acceptance for the younger picture-book set, as well as to anyone who enjoys wordless narratives.

Although this story has a wonderful message, after studying cultural authenticity, I am concerned about some of the illustrations and the portrayal of some tribal membership in a very general sense. I do like the message the story tells of tolerance and empathy. I could use it to teach that message during a read aloud.

This book seems like one of those that is only partially for kids, similar to the allegorical tales The Velveteen Rabbit or The Little Prince.

Told almost entirely in question form, a small girl is wondering when she will get there. How will she know? How long will it take? Will she never be silly again? Can she pick daisies? Will there be rainbows? Will she finally know everything - all the secrets? Can she change her mind and go Elsewhere instead?

Finally, much like Scarlett O’Hara, she decides she has lots to do, and she’ll deal with the issue tomorrow.

The author is also the illustrator, using sweeping two-page paintings to show how wide the world is to this little girl, and perhaps how boundless the future possibilities for her.

Evaluation: Adults may understand this book even better than the young audience to whom it is directed. But I think with guidance, children will get the message that they, too, have endless opportunities ahead of them.½

I bought this book on a trip to Ireland. It is great because it gives a "story" to the land mass that looks like a sleeping giant! When the sleeping giant awakes in "modern times" everyone is frightened of him. However, there is a little girl that understands that the giant might be frightened himself. The girl (& the townsfolk) devise a plan to put the giant back to sleep. Sweet and wonderful.

A little boy wants to be all these different animals because he doesn't want to be alone. In the end he finds a friend who wants to be a tiger too.

The brilliance of There is that it’s a deceptively simple story. On the surface, it sweetly follows a girl as she contemplates a journey and what she might find when she travels from Here to There. The scope and romance of adventure plays out beautifully on every page. Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick fills her pages to bursting with warm, soft, and whimsical oil-paintings of open skies, winding paths and even scaly creatures, providing the reader a chance to dream of locales beyond the pages.
However, a deeper look reveals a child wondering—and worrying—about what it means to grow up. The protagonist frets about all the things she doesn’t yet know about There (like having to wear “sensible shoes”) and, most importantly, what comforts she may have to leave behind in Here. Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick taps into something beautifully universal to children and to anyone that was ever a child, even if that was long ago. We’ve all made a trip from Here to There. Everyone has wondered—and worried—about There.
Additionally, this book would make for a formidable read-aloud at bedtime or anytime, and early readers may take to it for its simple, short sentences and patterned word structure.

It's the victorian era in Dublin and Taney is just a teenager, a teenager trying to pretend that her visions don't happen, and dealing with the various issues from being poor in a society that has no or little safety nets. She meets with Billy-the-bowl, who was a real-life-character (see http://www.dublin.ie/forums/showthread.php?6050-Dublin-Street-Characters/page11 - WARNING SPOILERS) and the two of them find entertainment in the streets of Dublin.

Taney longs for another life, far away from eighteenth century Dublin, and when people start dying, she is plagued by visions.

It's interesting and I never realised that Billy-the-bowl was a real character. Quite an interesting story, well-told and compelling.

I really liked this book- simple and to the point, but with so much meaning. This little girl tells her story through questions, wondering if and how she will ever get there? (there being grown up). She wonders and ponders as she walks over hills, climbs up to the stars and meets a dragon. But, in the end, she decides she has too much to do today, and will go there tomorrow. Definitely.

This is great for any age, showing that kids want to grow up but there is so much unknown about it, that growing up can wait.

I read this to my kindergarteners on the first day of school and they loved it. They thought she was so silly for not wanting to go to school, but I talked to them about how sometimes kids are nervous about school. It was a great book.

A good story about overcoming your fears. I imagine this would be good for parents trying to get their kids to give up pacifiers, comfort blankets, etc.

I thought the book was cute and the illustrations were nice and very engaging for children. The book teaches that friendship overcomes and it is good to have courage and faces one’s fears. Lizzy is the one who is usually scared while Skunk isn’t, making it seem as though Skunk is Lizzy’s brave alter ego. While looking for Skunk, Lizzy has to face her fears, and become like Skunk who is brave. When she finds him, they promise to take care of each other, again reiterating that friendship is key.

This story is very simplistic, about a young boy who uses his imagination to see himself as a tiger, wolf, and sailor. When he makes a friend, he wants them to both be these wild characters. The illustrations are well done, but there isn't much content.

I had a hard time following this book, as did the 3-5 year old group. It is about A little girl questions, "When will I get There"? The question arouses a series of illustrations that tell of story of imagination.

A story the deals with the power of hurtful words against others and their consequences. Two boys both have a large ego and think they're king of their land, so they start arguing. Eventually the world around them is affected by the harsh words and brings the boys to a breaking point and apologize to each other. They become friends after this event and have learned important life lessons.

In 1847 an impoverished displaced group of Choctaw Indians collected from their meager resources the sum of $170 to send toward food relief for the Irish Potato Famine.
Through the memories of Choona, now known as Tom, who is very, very old, we learn of how he, as a young man, at last learned of that part of his family's history about which no one would speak & yet everyone looked so wounded. The Long March, when his people were forced to walk from Florida to Mississippi all through one fearsome, killing winter.

The Long March is rich in American history & memory. The marvelous drawings create a magically real place. This is a must for anyone who loves looking at other ways to live in community; other ways of teaching the spirit to grow & learning about courage, wisdom & respecting the memories.

This book would be a grat addition to the library indian heritage collection. It could also give students a great perpspective on one of many inidan cultures.

Two boys start fighting from two different hilltops. Both say that they are king of all that see and as their argument progresses their angry words start to effect the world around them. Eventually they see what they have done and apologize, bringing the land back to life, learning a lesson about what war does.

Letters between a six-year-old and the tooth fairy. A well set out picture book that will appeal to any child awaiting the arrival of their second teeth.

I read this book to my two nieces, aged 2.5 and 5.

I always enjoy the "story-within-a-story" motif, and seeing how different the narration is from the child's actual memories (even though he "was a baby" and "wouldn't remember"!) is funny as all heck to me.

Doesn't grab my nieces. They just aren't that interested in it.½

Beautiful illustrations - a story about a young boy's imagination. It's simple and suitable for younger children.