Based on a traditional song adapted by Downing, this counting book tells of pelicans,
armadillos, black bears, alligators, Catahoulas, nutria, possums, crawfish and mosquitoes.
Set in the Louisiana bayous, marshes and wetlands, the rhythmic text offers children a
tour of the Pelican State's diverse and unique natural habitats.
"NEW ORLEANS SINGER-SONGWRITER Johnette Downing adapts a bayou counting song in the
April 2007 Pelican Publishing $15.95 animal nursery rhyme, DOWN IN LOUISIANA
(978-1-58980-451-7), a hardcover color-illustrated with collages by Deborah Ousley Kadair,
Texas. Family Choice and Parents’ Choice awards are among the many collected by Downing,
who also collaborated with Kadair on Today Is Monday in Louisiana for Pelican. Louisiana
wetland critters - including pelicans, of course -- are shown in their habitat, with
alligators, bears, armadillos, possums and mosquitos among those getting their verse and
their due. Cofounder of the Independent Children’s Artist Network, Downing has produced
six CDs of her own original songs which draw on Louisiana’s musical past. Today’s Books
puts Down in Louisiana on “The A-List.”"
— Today's Books, Bookweek |