A pleasing pourquoi tale.
The evergreen-ness of the pine tree is explained in a tale that’s possibly Cherokee but definitely Native American.
Sparrow has an injured wing but nevertheless thanks the Creator each day with his song. He cannot fly south with his family, though, as winter approaches. He seeks shelter first with Oak, then Maple, Elm and Aspen, but each tree rejects him, quite rudely. Pine, however, welcomes Sparrow, with an apology for his sticky branches and needlelike foliage, and tucks the little bird into a high, sheltered branch. When his family returns in the spring, Sparrow’s wing has healed. The Creator calls a council, admonishing the trees that had so much but would not share, proclaiming that only Pine will be green all year: “Pine, your gift to Sparrow was a gift to Me.” The language is simple, with an unornamented oral quality. Vidal has made effective patterns of birds and leaves that fill the pages as Sparrow goes from tree to tree looking for a way to survive the winter. The leaves of each tree are bright and recognizable in their autumn dress. A foreword by storyteller Robert Lewis, of Cherokee, Navajo and Apache lineage, and an author’s note add background.
A pleasing pourquoi tale. (Picture book/folktale. 5-8)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-937786-33-5
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Wisdom Tales
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity.
Buzz and his buzzy buddy open a spinoff series of nonfiction early readers with an aquarium visit.
Buzz: “Like other fish, sharks breathe through gills.” Fly Guy: “GILLZZ.” Thus do the two pop-eyed cartoon tour guides squire readers past a plethora of cramped but carefully labeled color photos depicting dozens of kinds of sharks in watery settings, along with close-ups of skin, teeth and other anatomical features. In the bite-sized blocks of narrative text, challenging vocabulary words like “carnivores” and “luminescence” come with pronunciation guides and lucid in-context definitions. Despite all the flashes of dentifrice and references to prey and smelling blood in the water, there is no actual gore or chowing down on display. Sharks are “so cool!” proclaims Buzz at last, striding out of the gift shop. “I can’t wait for our next field trip!” (That will be Fly Guy Presents: Space, scheduled for September 2013.)
A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity. (Informational easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-50771-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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