Caravan

By Lawrence McKay Jr., Darryl Ligasan

Through the story of ten-year-old Jura’s first caravan trip with his father, Lawrence McKay, Jr. describes the adventures one boy experiences on the journey to young adulthood.

Description

Through the story of ten-year-old Jura’s first caravan trip with his father, Lawrence McKay, Jr. describes the adventures one boy experiences on the journey to young adulthood. Set against the icy backdrop of the Hindu Kush mountain range in northeastern Afghanistan, this father-son story sparkles with the warmth of family and cultural tradition.

Children everywhere will be mesmerized by Darryl Ligasan’s dynamic paintings of the arduous caravan ride along steep mountain passes, and the hustle-bustle of an Afghan marketplace. Caravan presents young readers with the opportunity to embark on a fascinating journey …

in the caravan swaying back and forth,

where the mountains meet the sky,

and the trail leads ever on.

About the Creators

Lawrence McKay Jr.

Lawrence McKay is the author of Caravan, which was a Bank Street College Children's Book of the Year selection. He lives in Vermont with his wife and their two children.

Darryl Ligasan

Darryl Ligasan is a native of the Philippines, and now lives in New York City, where he works as an illustrator and designer, and teaches at the School of Visual Arts.

Awards

  • Best Children's Books of the Year

    Bank Street College of Education

Reviews

  • "McKay's first book has an unusual, vivid setting that comes through. . . Newcomer Ligasan's richly colored paintings, showing a variety of perspectives and set off with decorative patterned borders, evocatively capture the landscape during the journey. . . The drama of Jura's descent into the market and his return home will give readers an armchair tour of a unique locale."

    - Kirkus Reviews
  • "The layout with the richly textured illustrations set in a stylized frame, is handsome. Words and pictures elucidate not only the customs of another culture, but also a boy's rite-of-passage and adventure with his father. Refreshing and unobtrusively instructive."

    - School Library Journal
  • "Caravan hits the mark with its warm illustrations, clear lessons about trade and markets, and an engrossing story about a child coming of age amongst a nomadic people of Afghanistan."

    - Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children

Paperback

  • ISBN 9781600603464
  • Publication Date Sep 01, 1995
  • Trim Size 11 × 8.25 in
  • Weight 0.3125 lbs
  • Page Count 32
  • Word Count 1027
  • Interests

  • Audience Children
  • BISAC Category 1 JUV / People & Places / Asia
  • BISAC Category 2 JUV / Social Themes / New Experience
  • BISAC Category 3 JUV / Travel
  • Themes Animals, Asian / Asian American / AAPI, Childhood Experiences and Memories, Families, Fathers, Fiction, Muslim, Overcoming Obstacles, People In Motion, Persistence / Grit, Responsibility
  • Reading Levels

  • Age Range Ages 5 - 9
  • Grade Range Grades K - 4
  • Guided Reading R
  • ATOS Book Level 4.5
  • DRA 40
  • Lexile Level 860
  • Reading Level Grades 2 - 3
  • SRC 3.9
  • Bebop Reading Fluent
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      Through the story of ten-year-old Jura's first caravan trip with his father, Lawrence McKay, Jr. describes the adventures one boy experiences on the journey to young adulthood.