Flying with this bird should leave young human chicks feeling encouraged to spread their own wings.
A fledgling makes its first foray into the sky.
With not a little apprehension, a young robin considers the possibilities and perils of its inaugural flight. Though it’s every bird’s destiny to spread their wings and leave the nest eventually, it’s a scary proposition. Just when the feathered protagonist decides to give flight a pass, its mom deems the moment right for a gentle shove, causing it to tumble clumsily from its safe haven and make awkward attempts to rise. Encountering a toothy cat below leaves the bird no choice but to keep pumping its wings in an escape effort—then, holy fluttering, robin!—up it soars like the expert avia(n)tor it was meant to be. This is a charming tale, with the bird narrating fears and self-doubts, then exhilaration, in simple, lilting verse that aptly floats along breezily. Young readers/listeners will easily empathize as they contemplate daunting firsts of their own and take heart as they discover that pluck and practice win out. Equally appealing are the bright, delightful watercolor illustrations of the very expressive bird. (So saturated are they that the mother's plumage looks darker than it does in real life.) Two double-page spreads of further information for children and adults extend the story’s usefulness with a child-friendly Q-and-A illustrated with photos and literacy and STEM activities.
Flying with this bird should leave young human chicks feeling encouraged to spread their own wings. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-58469-638-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dawn Publications
Review Posted Online: Dec. 4, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
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
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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