The Great Shaking: An Account of the Earthquakes of 1811 and 1812

In vivid, measured prose a bear narrates his experience of the 1811-1812 New Madrid (Missouri) earthquakes, capturing both the awe they sparked and their dangers. The bear tells of omens--floods and strange fevers--with gruff cynicism. For him ``the bother'' started one winter night when it felt ``as if Mother was rising from her sleep.'' Hot springs and geysers pour through new cracks in the earth, followed by 13 days of shaking ``like a gentle sea.'' In a final onslaught, ``the Great Bear from the Stars stepped out of the sky onto Mother's back.'' Arresting images (``a stag whose antlers were filled with crows'') pepper the text while an appealing antiquity shades the often deadpan voice of the crusty bear. Parker's hand-colored aquatints, finely sketched with strongly colored backgrounds, evoke the earth's power and spells of eerie calm. Unusually fluid lines soften the terror of the quakes while testifying to their force. A useful note on earthquakes concludes the work. Ages 5-8. (Mar.)