A neat Nordic tale about the importance of valuing nature—one’s own and the world’s.
Not every Viking wants to brawl and battle.
Waifish and bright-eyed Leif would much rather peacefully hike the craggy hills around his Viking village than howl at the moon with the rest of his clan. While other Vikings his age, who are all big and burly, ask for spears and poleaxes for their birthdays, Leif requests a hiking stick. His mother tries to get him to wrestle, his father forces him to practice spear throwing, and his sister drags him off to practice lifting heavy rocks, because the Viking Games are approaching. Leif attempts to explain his love of nature to them, but they are having none of it. With the honor of his clan at stake, Leif gives the Games his best shot. When the competition ends in a tie, it is decided that whichever clan can show the judges “the greatest treasure by sunset will be the winner.” Everyone rushes to fetch their finest booty, and it seems that the other clan will win…until Leif surprises the whole village with a treasure beyond all earthly goods. Gehl’s tale relays its message about the value of self-authenticity and open-mindedness without being preachy. Banks’ bright illustrations of White Scandinavians in a green, mountainous landscape are reminiscent of cutout animation, endowing each spread with an immersive motion-picture quality. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A neat Nordic tale about the importance of valuing nature—one’s own and the world’s. (Picture book. 2-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-68446-427-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Capstone Editions
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground.
A little red sleigh has big Christmas dreams.
Although the detailed, full-color art doesn’t anthropomorphize the protagonist (which readers will likely identify as a sled and not a sleigh), a close third-person text affords the object thoughts and feelings while assigning feminine pronouns. “She longed to become Santa’s big red sleigh,” reads an early line establishing the sleigh’s motivation to leave her Christmas-shop home for the North Pole. Other toys discourage her, but she perseveres despite creeping self-doubt. A train and truck help the sleigh along, and when she wishes she were big, fast, and powerful like them, they offer encouragement and counsel patience. When a storm descends after the sleigh strikes out on her own, an unnamed girl playing in the snow brings her to a group of children who all take turns riding the sleigh down a hill. When the girl brings her home, the sleigh is crestfallen she didn’t reach the North Pole. A convoluted happily-ever-after ending shows a note from Santa that thanks the sleigh for giving children joy and invites her to the North Pole next year. “At last she understood what she was meant to do. She would build her life up spreading joy, one child at a time.” Will she leave the girl’s house to be gifted to other children? Will she stay and somehow also reach ever more children? Readers will be left wondering. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 31.8% of actual size.)
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-72822-355-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
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