An engaging animal-rescue tale, smoothly told and pleasingly illustrated.
A wildlife rehabilitator rescues eggs laid under a coal conveyor belt at a power plant, hatches them, and raises great horned owls to be public ambassadors for their species.
Houts pens a graceful, straightforward account of the rescue of a pair of eggs, carried to safety in Walter Crawford’s shirt pocket. One hatches. “And that’s the way it goes, sometimes,” he says. The survivor is named Coal for his origins and raised by bird sanctuary caregivers to help others learn about owls. Surprisingly, a year or two later, yet another egg appears under the conveyor belt in the power plant. Similarly rescued and hatched, Junior also becomes an owl ambassador. Softly realistic watercolor-and-pastel illustrations accompany the story, accentuating the mystery of the owl’s visits to the coal yard in the night as well as depicting Walter Crawford’s attentive care in the sanctuary. One spread features the owl showing off for a diverse group of schoolchildren sitting at the knee of the trainer, a woman of color. Crawford himself presents white. An author’s note explains the genesis of the story in the history of the World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis, Missouri, and the details she had to fill in, including Crawford’s dialogue. That fictional memorable line helpfully reminds readers and listeners of the chanciness of such rescues and, appearing twice, nicely ties the narrative together.
An engaging animal-rescue tale, smoothly told and pleasingly illustrated. (explore more, activities) (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-58469-647-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dawn Publications
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of...
An international story tackles a serious global issue with Reynolds’ characteristic visual whimsy.
Gie Gie—aka Princess Gie Gie—lives with her parents in Burkina Faso. In her kingdom under “the African sky, so wild and so close,” she can tame wild dogs with her song and make grass sway, but despite grand attempts, she can neither bring the water closer to home nor make it clean. French words such as “maintenant!” (now!) and “maman” (mother) and local color like the karite tree and shea nuts place the story in a French-speaking African country. Every morning, Gie Gie and her mother perch rings of cloth and large clay pots on their heads and walk miles to the nearest well to fetch murky, brown water. The story is inspired by model Georgie Badiel, who founded the Georgie Badiel Foundation to make clean water accessible to West Africans. The details in Reynolds’ expressive illustrations highlight the beauty of the West African landscape and of Princess Gie Gie, with her cornrowed and beaded hair, but will also help readers understand that everyone needs clean water—from the children of Burkina Faso to the children of Flint, Michigan.
Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of potable water. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-17258-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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