by Helen Frost ; photographed by Rick Lieder ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 10, 2015
All-around gorgeous; Frost and Lieder again showcase the splendor of nature through the happy marriage of literal and...
A picture-book poem calling for adventure that’s—thankfully—for the birds.
When poet Frost and photographer Lieder last teamed up (Step Gently Out, 2012), their lyric gaze focused on the insect world, magnifying the beauty of wee, crawly creatures to wide critical acclaim. Their latest endeavor, again but one poem set amid riveting close-ups, takes to the air, capturing many common species of North American birds—mostly in flight—and reprising Frost’s theme encouraging children to step outside and explore the natural world. From the urgent dependency captured on the front endpapers in the form of baby robins, beaks gaping wide, to the independence of adult birds midflight, arrested in such detail that an attentive child can count the feathers of a downy woodpecker’s wing or study the masked face of a male cardinal, Lieder’s breathtaking photography carries the book’s message of growth. Frost’s poem encourages youngsters to leave the nest, “trusting” the sky to “hold you / as you learn to fly.” It not only quietly promotes thoughtful risk-taking, but neatly and unwittingly encapsulates the ambitious creative project she and Lieder have embarked on: “Alone in the sky, // or flying with friends, / your wings will carry you far, // stitching earth to sky with invisible thread, // at home wherever you are.”
All-around gorgeous; Frost and Lieder again showcase the splendor of nature through the happy marriage of literal and figurative images. (Picture book/poetry. 2-8)Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6904-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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by Helen Frost ; photographed by Rick Lieder
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by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2021
A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors.
A confused squirrel overreacts to the falling autumn leaves.
Relaxing on a tree branch, Squirrel admires the red, gold, and orange leaves. Suddenly Squirrel screams, “One of my leaves is…MISSING!” Searching for the leaf, Squirrel tells Bird, “Someone stole my leaf!” Spying Mouse sailing in a leaf boat, Squirrel asks if Mouse stole the leaf. Mouse calmly replies in the negative. Bird reminds Squirrel it’s “perfectly normal to lose a leaf or two at this time of year.” Next morning Squirrel panics again, shrieking, “MORE LEAVES HAVE BEEN STOLEN!” Noticing Woodpecker arranging colorful leaves, Squirrel queries, “Are those my leaves?” Woodpecker tells Squirrel, “No.” Again, Bird assures Squirrel that no one’s taking the leaves and that the same thing happened last year, then encourages Squirrel to relax. Too wired to relax despite some yoga and a bath, the next day Squirrel cries “DISASTER” at the sight of bare branches. Frantic now, Squirrel becomes suspicious upon discovering Bird decorating with multicolored leaves. Is Bird the culprit? In response, Bird shows Squirrel the real Leaf Thief: the wind. Squirrel’s wildly dramatic, misguided, and hyperpossessive reaction to a routine seasonal event becomes a rib-tickling farce through clever use of varying type sizes and weights emphasizing his absurd verbal pronouncements as well as exaggerated, comic facial expressions and body language. Bold colors, arresting perspectives, and intense close-ups enhance Squirrel’s histrionics. Endnotes explain the science behind the phenomenon.
A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-3520-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater
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