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SONG ON THE WIND

Name: SONG ON THE WIND
Author: Caroline Everson
ISBN: 978-1-927083-30-7

by Caroline Everson ; illustrated by Anne Marie Bourgeois ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2018

A joy

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Long ago and far away, a song was sung on the wind and is still journeying to soothe children to slumber.

It begins when an Indigenous child wrapped in her mother’s warm arms requests a lullaby about the sea. This mother begins, “In a long-ago place in a faraway time / A story was sung to the wind. / Mama told it to me, and I’ll tell it to you, / And the wind might catch it again,” and sings about the vast beauty of the saltwater world below an endless sky. The song goes next to a fishing vessel, where a pale-skinned boy asks his fisherman father for a story about a world of ice. His papa tells him of a faraway land covered in snow and ice. The song then passes to an Arctic Native grandmother and a young, brown-skinned child in a crib, listening to the stories on the wind outside the window. With each singer, the refrain varies slightly to suit. Historically around the globe, adult caregivers have comforted children by singing them to sleep. Everson’s 14 beautiful verses have the potential to continue this tradition. Her serene words are complemented by Native artist Bourgeois’ surreal, luminous illustrations. Muted and otherworldly, the colors and images bring depth to the text, bathing each of the families depicted with light.

A joy . (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: April 1, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-927083-30-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Fifth House

Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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CINDERELLA

From the Once Upon a World series

by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Sandra Equihua ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 13, 2016

A nice but not requisite purchase.

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A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.

Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.

A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LITTLE MERMAID
adapted by Hannah Eliot ; illustrated by Nivea Ortiz

- BOOK REVIEW
THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA
by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Dinara Mirtalipova

- BOOK REVIEW
RAPUNZEL
by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan

- BOOK REVIEW
THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA
by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Dinara Mirtalipova

- BOOK REVIEW
RAPUNZEL
by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan

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THE GRUFFALO

by Julia Donaldson illustrated by Axel Scheffler ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1999

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The action of this rhymed and humorous tale centers upon a mouse who "took a stroll/through the deep dark wood./A fox saw the mouse/and the mouse looked good." The mouse escapes being eaten by telling the fox that he is on his way to meet his friend the gruffalo (a monster of his imagination), whose favorite food is roasted fox. The fox beats a hasty retreat. Similar escapes are in store for an owl and a snake; both hightail it when they learn the particulars: tusks, claws, terrible jaws, eyes orange, tongue black, purple prickles on its back. When the gruffalo suddenly materializes out of the mouse's head and into the forest, the mouse has to think quick, declaring himself inedible as the "scariest creature in the deep dark wood," and inviting the gruffalo to follow him to witness the effect he has on the other creatures. When the gruffalo hears that the mouse's favorite food is gruffalo crumble, he runs away. It's a fairly innocuous tale, with twists that aren't sharp enough and treachery that has no punch. Scheffler's funny scenes prevent the suspense from culminating; all his creatures, predator and prey, are downright lovable. (Picture book. 3-6)