Full-circle ecstasy.
Starting in southern Africa, where a girl named Cassi releases a healed swift into its flock, this picture book tells parallel tales of Beijing swifts’ migratory habits and the ongoing, ancient powers of the wind.
The spectacular artwork alone will draw in children too young to read the sparse, lyrical, yet informative text. Vibrant colors highlight dramatic, sometimes surreal landscapes, seascapes, and skyscapes. The first sentence is graceful and comforting: “Cassi cradles the swift in the palm of her hand.” The slender, brown-skinned girl stands atop a pile of rocks, gazing down at her tiny charge, which she’s nursed back to health. Animals, plants, and traditional Namibian (probably) homes are in the foreground and distant background, as are soaring swifts. Surprisingly, a hot air balloon hovers behind Cassi. After affirming the importance of the swift’s release back into the wild, the text highlights the seasonal changes preceding the flock’s departure. Meanwhile, complementary artwork depicts Cassi’s hot air balloon accompanying the earliest leg (ahem, wing) of the journey. After establishing the wind as the swifts’ home, the next pages concentrate on how the amazing power of the wind has shaped the many landscapes over which the birds fly for three straight months. Their nesting destination—pinpointed by a hazy Beijing skyline—includes an elated boy who welcomes the swifts as summer’s harbinger; the following double-page spread depicts a new generation of birds hatching in China, already awaiting the return trip to Africa.
Full-circle ecstasy. (Picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1792-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Templar/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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