Good intentions; confusing execution.
The love of an ancient tree leads a boy to unlikely activism.
When the pioneers cleared the land to settle the western wilderness, one young man decided to leave one special tree standing to shade his new home. The years go by, and the land is further developed, but the tree remains, until a proposed highway threatens it. The great-grandson of the original settler calls on animals to help save the tree. Young environmentalists will cheer when the tree is saved, and they will enjoy the family story. McPhail’s familiar watercolor-and-ink spreads capture the bucolic setting, especially effective when showing the wide swath of cleared land while the oxen are helping to build the house. Right from the start, though, the tone of the book is muddled by confusing and redundant graphic elements. Speech bubbles seem oddly out of place in the 1800s, especially when the main character is speaking to no one and the narration is clear and complete. The final illustration shows the boy, triumphantly swinging from his beloved tree—but the proximity of the new highway and the vehicular traffic makes this victory seem hollow at best. The graveyard at the right edge seems to indicate the fight against progress may be futile. Classes studying ecology and activism might find something to discuss here.
Good intentions; confusing execution. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: March 27, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9057-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
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
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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