Sweetly illogical and very old-fashioned.
A little girl’s grandfather is sad because he cannot paint, so she tells him to make a picture book with her, in this tale translated from Swedish and originally published in 1924.
In their convincingly childlike story, Rosalind is sleeping in the meadow under a linden tree, with her deer nearby. A hunter comes by with his dog and points his gun at the deer, which runs away. The wakened and distraught Rosalind wants her deer friend back, and the hunter promises to return it unharmed. But the deer is captured by the king and put in a golden cage, where it refuses to eat. The hunter is locked up for allowing his dog to run free, but he sends the dog to Rosalind with a note written in charcoal, and she takes her walking stick and her linden flowers and sets off. The deer eagerly devours the linden, but the king locks up Rosalind, too, and will not let them go. Fortunately, the entire court takes a nap, the hunter frees Rosalind and her deer, and they all gambol freely and happily beneath the linden. The pictures are simple but detailed, with the colors and aspect of old prints. The king picks apples in his crown and golden coat; the hunter’s dark stone dungeon is equipped with a fireplace and a stool; the hunter, despite the presence of his gun (which disappears in the last scene) is content to blow his horn at the end.
Sweetly illogical and very old-fashioned. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-86315-794-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Floris
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers.
Echoing the meter of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” Ward uses catchy original rhymes to describe the variety of nests birds create.
Each sweet stanza is complemented by a factual, engaging description of the nesting habits of each bird. Some of the notes are intriguing, such as the fact that the hummingbird uses flexible spider web to construct its cup-shaped nest so the nest will stretch as the chicks grow. An especially endearing nesting behavior is that of the emperor penguin, who, with unbelievable patience, incubates the egg between his tummy and his feet for up to 60 days. The author clearly feels a mission to impart her extensive knowledge of birds and bird behavior to the very young, and she’s found an appealing and attractive way to accomplish this. The simple rhymes on the left page of each spread, written from the young bird’s perspective, will appeal to younger children, and the notes on the right-hand page of each spread provide more complex factual information that will help parents answer further questions and satisfy the curiosity of older children. Jenkins’ accomplished collage illustrations of common bird species—woodpecker, hummingbird, cowbird, emperor penguin, eagle, owl, wren—as well as exotics, such as flamingoes and hornbills, are characteristically naturalistic and accurate in detail.
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers. (author’s note, further resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2116-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
A solid, small step for diversifying STEM stories.
What does Annie want to be?
As career day approaches, Annie wants to keep her job choice secret until her family sees her presentation at school. Readers will figure it out, however, through the title and clues Tadgell incorporates into the illustrations. Family members make guesses about her ambitions that are tied to their own passions, although her brother watches as she completes her costume in a bedroom with a Mae Jemison poster, starry décor, and a telescope. There’s a celebratory mood at the culminating presentation, where Annie says she wants to “soar high through the air” like her basketball-playing mother, “explore faraway places” like her hiker dad, and “be brave and bold” like her baker grandmother (this feels forced, but oven mitts are part of her astronaut costume) so “the whole world will hear my exciting stories” like her reporter grandfather. Annie jumps off a chair to “BLAST OFF” in a small illustration superimposed on a larger picture depicting her floating in space with a reddish ground below. It’s unclear if Annie imagines this scene or if it’s her future-self exploring Mars, but either scenario fits the aspirational story. Backmatter provides further reading suggestions and information about the moon and four women astronauts, one of whom is Jemison. Annie and her family are all black.
A solid, small step for diversifying STEM stories. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-88448-523-0
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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