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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
With muted colors projecting the sadness of lost land, The Dam lends itself to a more mature picture book reader, who can read into the implications of the poetic text. This is a book filled with subtle looks that require some attention to find beauty in the story.
David Almond tells a story told to him and it’s based on true events. The dam in the book is the dam that created Kielder Water in Northumberland, England. The folk musicians, the man and his daughter are not only characters in a tradition of handing along stories from one generation to another, but they are folk legends Mike and Katheryn Tickell, the people in the story Almond was told.
The story unfolds as a father wakes his daughter and takes her and her fiddle into a valley. They remember together the people they saw sing, and play instruments, and dance in this now abandoned place, boarded up and waiting for the water to cover it.
They enter every house and while Kathryn plays, he sings and dances, “They filled the houses with music.” All of nature would hear it, and remember. “Behind the dam, within the water, the music stays, will never be gone.” They hear it still, moving in and around and within them.
The Dam is really just a picture book you have to experience. Almond’s text is a poem, a song that guides you through a memory that engages the senses and deepens feeling. There is a sadness, and a hope; a joy of remembering what’s past, a grief, and a comfort in knowing it can’t leave you.
The compositions are guided by an equally sure hand. The sepia tones are appropriate for the early rising and fog, but also for the past. The wisps of ghosts look ancient (not favoring the detail of a particular history). But the figures of the man and girl are realistic, as are the renderings of folk remembered. Light of day brings color, which happens to coincide with the enlivening of the abandoned homes with music. The day closes with darker tones and the rise of the water.
And then a new day that relays the sensation of the present, the field now with pink flowers, and a day less still and weaving new memories amidst the old.
I was drawn in from the very start and upon review I notice the images on her bedroom wall. I think how she rests there, and he pauses before disrupting her. Then comes a page with small panels of images. I want to find someone to read the facing page to me so I can hear the words as I study the images. You’ll want to hold onto them, but it may be difficult when you turn the page. The double-page spread captures an expanse of the nearly finished dam that will stop your heart—in awe and horror.
I was also struck by the page of text facing Pinfold’s illustrations of the rising water:
This was sealed.
The water rose.
This disappeared
This was drowned.
*
The lake is beautiful.
“This was drowned./The lake is beautiful,” and it is. It’s “satin” and “fertile”—but such observations only come after the author tells us, “the music stays,/will never be gone.”
The Dam acknowledges the devastation and a transcendence, of barriers created and those that cannot contain such a thing as music and dreaming. Listed among the things of nature that heard Kathryn’s music, there at the end: “the ghosts heard.”
There is a timelessness to the words and pictures that reflect the wisdom the story imparts. The emotions they evoke feel ancient. The Dam feels like a finely-crafted folk song; firmly rooted in a place, it still manages to resonate all the way over here.
A story for musicians, historians, and artists.
+++
The Dam made me think of Heima (2007) where Icelandic band Sigur Rós tours their country playing at various venues (one site they visit is a dam); but it is about a music inspired by a country and its people/history.
https://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/2019/01/08/a-finely-crafted-song/
The story unfolds as a father wakes his daughter and takes her and her fiddle into a valley. They remember together the people they saw sing, and play instruments, and dance in this now abandoned place, boarded up and waiting for the water to cover it.
They enter every house and while Kathryn plays, he sings and dances, “They filled the houses with music.” All of nature would hear it, and remember. “Behind the dam, within the water, the music stays, will never be gone.” They hear it still, moving in and around and within them.
The Dam is really just a picture book you have to experience. Almond’s text is a poem, a song that guides you through a memory that engages the senses and deepens feeling. There is a sadness, and a hope; a joy of remembering what’s past, a grief, and a comfort in knowing it can’t leave you.
The compositions are guided by an equally sure hand. The sepia tones are appropriate for the early rising and fog, but also for the past. The wisps of ghosts look ancient (not favoring the detail of a particular history). But the figures of the man and girl are realistic, as are the renderings of folk remembered. Light of day brings color, which happens to coincide with the enlivening of the abandoned homes with music. The day closes with darker tones and the rise of the water.
And then a new day that relays the sensation of the present, the field now with pink flowers, and a day less still and weaving new memories amidst the old.
I was drawn in from the very start and upon review I notice the images on her bedroom wall. I think how she rests there, and he pauses before disrupting her. Then comes a page with small panels of images. I want to find someone to read the facing page to me so I can hear the words as I study the images. You’ll want to hold onto them, but it may be difficult when you turn the page. The double-page spread captures an expanse of the nearly finished dam that will stop your heart—in awe and horror.
I was also struck by the page of text facing Pinfold’s illustrations of the rising water:
This was sealed.
The water rose.
This disappeared
This was drowned.
*
The lake is beautiful.
“This was drowned./The lake is beautiful,” and it is. It’s “satin” and “fertile”—but such observations only come after the author tells us, “the music stays,/will never be gone.”
The Dam acknowledges the devastation and a transcendence, of barriers created and those that cannot contain such a thing as music and dreaming. Listed among the things of nature that heard Kathryn’s music, there at the end: “the ghosts heard.”
There is a timelessness to the words and pictures that reflect the wisdom the story imparts. The emotions they evoke feel ancient. The Dam feels like a finely-crafted folk song; firmly rooted in a place, it still manages to resonate all the way over here.
A story for musicians, historians, and artists.
+++
The Dam made me think of Heima (2007) where Icelandic band Sigur Rós tours their country playing at various venues (one site they visit is a dam); but it is about a music inspired by a country and its people/history.
https://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/2019/01/08/a-finely-crafted-song/
If you're going to pair one of my favorite authors with one of my favorite illustrators, why can't the book be three times longer? ...Other than, I suppose, the integrity of the story and all that. Sigh. So lovely.
This is such a reverent and melancholy tale. It balances well the loss and hope that comes with change through both text and illustrations. It's a very thought-provoking true story and my son and I immediately wanted to know more about how dams are built.
Came for the art, was not disappointed. Love Levi's art style. Sad and melancholy.
A beautiful true story about how Kielder Lake was created. The illustrations are beautiful and interesting to explore, as is there layout on each of the pages. The accompanying words support the story but the images really tell it. This would be a great book to use with older children in primary school, exploring the emotion through the images. It is interesting how even when the water has filled the area, it still brings beauty, celebrating the people who once lived there. A lovely book with great possibilities for basing a unit of work or lesson around or simply for reading for enjoyment.
Told in Almond's classic soul-stirring style, 'The Dam' explores the power music can have in a dire situation.
The illustrations are really beautiful and rather haunting. I would use them as a stimulus for creative writing with an older class. We would discuss what is happening and investigate the character's feelings and voice their thoughts using drama techniques. I would also want the children to create pieces of music to accompany their writing, drawing upon the theme of the violin and it's shrill but merry sound. We would discuss how music can influence people's feelings and perspective on a negative situation. This could link to the children's experiences during the lockdown - did they listen to music to help them cope?
The influences from Almond's life in Northumbria are manifested through Pinfold's amazing landscapes and ghostly drawings.
The illustrations are really beautiful and rather haunting. I would use them as a stimulus for creative writing with an older class. We would discuss what is happening and investigate the character's feelings and voice their thoughts using drama techniques. I would also want the children to create pieces of music to accompany their writing, drawing upon the theme of the violin and it's shrill but merry sound. We would discuss how music can influence people's feelings and perspective on a negative situation. This could link to the children's experiences during the lockdown - did they listen to music to help them cope?
The influences from Almond's life in Northumbria are manifested through Pinfold's amazing landscapes and ghostly drawings.
Based on a true story, this is the tale of the Kielder Dam which when finished would flood the valley where there were farms, homes and a school. Musicians had played throughout the area, so right before the valley was to be flooded, Mike Tickell took his daughter Kathryn and her fiddle into the dam to play music there for the final time. They enter each boarded-up house and Kathryn plays music. They played all day long, one home and structure after another, filling the spaces with music. Now the area is a lake, a lake that contains music.
Almond’s writing is so incredibly beautiful here. He takes the haunting story of a musician saying farewell and welcome at the same time. He tells the story with poetry and awe, a hushed beauty filling the pages as he explains the wonder of the music that still lives within the lake. In his note at the end, Almond explains about the Tickells and Kathryn Tickell’s career as a well-known folk musician.
The illustrations by Pinfold are equally haunting. The lone stone buildings with their boarded doors and windows stand as witnesses but also ghosts on the landscape, soon to be covered by water. There are ghostly figures on the pages, swirling with the music and poetry, saying goodbye to the world they knew.
A gorgeous picture book that looks at the power of music and the wonder of a place. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
Almond’s writing is so incredibly beautiful here. He takes the haunting story of a musician saying farewell and welcome at the same time. He tells the story with poetry and awe, a hushed beauty filling the pages as he explains the wonder of the music that still lives within the lake. In his note at the end, Almond explains about the Tickells and Kathryn Tickell’s career as a well-known folk musician.
The illustrations by Pinfold are equally haunting. The lone stone buildings with their boarded doors and windows stand as witnesses but also ghosts on the landscape, soon to be covered by water. There are ghostly figures on the pages, swirling with the music and poetry, saying goodbye to the world they knew.
A gorgeous picture book that looks at the power of music and the wonder of a place. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
Almond and Pinfold depict a final visit to the land and the homes within the Kielder Valley prior to it being overcome by the building and filling of a Dam. With celebration rather than mourning, father and daughter play music to remember the special times shared and moments spent with the people who have had to leave. They gift song and life to the land before it is submerged, allowing it to be reborn rather than lost entirely.
The Dam is truly beautiful. This story is uplifting and hopeful for what is to come, without grieving what has been taken away. Although the valley might have changed physically, it lives on through the music that has been played, trailing through the flowing waters and the blood of those that still visit. Such moving ties are made between music, the land and memory, and I loved how the water was shown to cleanse the valley instead of destroying it. A haunting book that allows for a lot of contemplation.
The Dam is truly beautiful. This story is uplifting and hopeful for what is to come, without grieving what has been taken away. Although the valley might have changed physically, it lives on through the music that has been played, trailing through the flowing waters and the blood of those that still visit. Such moving ties are made between music, the land and memory, and I loved how the water was shown to cleanse the valley instead of destroying it. A haunting book that allows for a lot of contemplation.