Appealing storytelling conveys the importance of preparation and awareness for young hikers.
Two children enjoy a challenging hiking adventure with their parents.
In this informative and entertaining debut picture book for elementary school students, Alice (the story’s first-person narrator) and her younger brother, Jack, learn that their parents intend to take them on a hiking trip into the Grand Canyon. During four months of preparation, Mom and Dad enlist them in the planning. To help acclimate the group for the arduous climb, the White family takes daytime “practice hikes.” The four also go on a local overnight hiking trip to experience using their new gear and setting up camp. The rest of the tale focuses on the Grand Canyon adventure through Alice’s eyes. She learns about its history and culture, stargazes, crosses over the rushing Colorado River, meets other campers and a mule train, and traverses steep switchbacks to the bottom of the canyon and back up again. A notably polished collaboration between mother-and-daughter authors Schweitzer and Graves and illustrator Robinson, this simple but well-conceived story is framed around useful tips for safe, fun family outdoor trips, from the importance of planning and practice hikes to the value of protective gear for sudden changes in weather and “one step at a time” encouragement if a young adventurer becomes anxious. Robinson’s deft illustrations are colorful, illuminating, and lively, and the large, clear text is perfect for young readers. The aftermatter includes facts about Grand Canyon National Park and a resource bibliography.
Appealing storytelling conveys the importance of preparation and awareness for young hikers.Pub Date: April 25, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73631-060-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Opalave Publishing, LLC
Review Posted Online: June 5, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An impending school visit by a celebrity chef sends budding cook Ollie into a tailspin. He and his classmates are supposed to bring a favorite family food for show and tell, but his family doesn’t have a clear choice—besides, his little sister Rosy doesn’t like much of anything. What to do? As in their previous two visits to Room 75, Kenah builds suspense while keeping the tone light, and Carter adds both bright notes of color and familiar home and school settings in her cartoon illustrations. Eventually, Ollie winkles favorite ingredients out of his clan, which he combines into a mac-and-cheese casserole with a face on top that draws delighted praise from the class’s renowned guest. As Ollie seems to do his kitchen work without parental assistance, a cautionary tip or two (and maybe a recipe) might not have gone amiss here, but the episode’s mouthwatering climax and resolution will guarantee smiles of contentment all around. (Easy reader. 6-7)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-06-053561-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
All in all, this is a good introduction to stories, books, and reading.
From a campfire lit by early humans to a campfire lit by a contemporary vacationing family, gathering together to share words and tales has always been in our DNA.
With just one sentence or phrase per illustration, Yaccarino gives voice to the many ways that humans have preserved, shared, and recorded their history through words and images. Sometimes the format is visual, as in cave paintings and picture writing. People around the world have also used papyrus, woodblocks, tapestries, illuminated manuscripts, and plays to keep narratives alive. Pictures and words have been preserved in a wide variety of libraries and on movie, television, and computer screens. Spoken and written words have inspired and evoked strong emotional responses. Yaccarino uses India ink on vellum to create memorable, full-bleed and paneled illustrations. One double-page spread depicts an assortment of folk from many cultures and of many colors walking and reading their tablets (and not looking where they are going!). It’s a fairly Eurocentric history; including such other traditions as Native American and West African griot storytelling would have strengthened the narrative. Sharp eyes will take note of the starry transition from cave people to contemporary folk as astrological signs reappear as constellations.
All in all, this is a good introduction to stories, books, and reading. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-241106-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
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