Crowe intertwines a tale of human bonds with nature’s call to endangered Loggerhead turtles. Acrylics are both deep and transparent; textures abound right down to Magdalena’s freckles. Grandmother shows Magdalena the egg-laying process on the beach. She patiently answers Magdalena’s questions, but she is very tired and remarks, “I’m afraid I’m even older than some turtles.” Magdalena watches her failing health but is reminded, “I’ll always be with you, Magdalena, especially at turtle-time.” Magdalena’s reactions of sadness and anger to her Grandmother’s passing are natural. She has the support of a loving Mother, but she wants nothing to do with sea turtles, even when it’s time for the eggs to hatch. When a gull’s cry reminds her that it is turtle-time, she grabs her Mother and heads to the nests. Together they share the circle of life, “the turtle-time love” she saw in her Grandmother’s eyes. The human promise has been kept and nature has produced young who will fight to survive. A careful reader can follow Grandmother’s turtle pendant as it finds its rightful place. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-59078-262-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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