The Crossing  Donna Jo Napoli, Author, Jim Madsen, Illustrator
Donna Napoli, illus. by Jim Madsen. S&S/Atheneum, $16.99 (40p)
ISBN 978-1-4169-9474-9 Reviewed on: 04/25/2011 Release date:
06/01/2011 Through the eyes of baby Jean Baptiste, carried on
his mother's back, Napoli (Mama Miti) tells the story of
Shoshoni woman Sacagawea's 16-month voyage with pioneers Lewis
and Clark from North Dakota to Missouri and back in search of a
water passage to the west. Short, poetic descriptions of the
landscape and journey ("We paddle/ against the current/ till
Bia' points/ at Beaverhead Rock,/ her childhood home at last")
close with onomatopoetic phrases that refer to the many animals
they meet during the journey: ("Whoop, whoop,/ men dance,/ slip,
slip,/ ermines race/ in my dreams." Madsen's (Family Huddle)
full-bleed full- and half-spread digital artwork is rendered in
warm, earthy hues, shot through with tiny, crackling lines that
give the images an aura of old oil paintings. He depicts the
changing seasons, modes of