The mid-Atlantic coast with its myriad plants and animals comes to life in this marvelous search-and-find book. A walk to the beach on a summer morning leads the narrator through the woods, into a salt marsh, over the sand dunes, and onto the beach. In each spot, the narrator sits very still, and looks around to see “who’s watching me.” Native flora and fauna are the focus: Virginia creeper, loblolly pine, a nuthatch, a mosquito, sea oats, a red fox, an osprey, and a flock of pelicans. Every other page folds out, and features a list of plants and animals found in each of the four habitats. Cole’s (Rosie’s Roses, p. 382, etc.) marvelously detailed and accurate illustrations give readers a peek into the natural world. Children and adults alike will love the challenge of matching the names on the list with the correct illustrations. The concluding message encourages young readers to experience the excitement of seeing the animals in the area where they live by finding “a place to sit and watch and listen,” something that is sometimes difficult for squirmy, noisy children to do. Perfect for introducing youngsters to the world around them, and especially appropriate for anyone who visits or lives near the seashore. (answer key) (Picture book. 4-12)
Pub Date: April 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-688-17515-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2003
Sitting on his stoop near the end of a tidy block of row houses, Max seizes on a couple of sticks that blow from a tree and begins tapping: on his own thighs; on the bottom of Grandpa's window-washing bucket; on a hatbox his mother brings home, bottles, a garbage can. Unobtrusively, Pinkney slips in new information about Max's family in each spread, as the boy experiments creatively with what's at hand, imitates rhythms he hears (``the sound of pigeons, startled into flight,'' church bells, the wheels of the train where his father's a conductor). In a satisfying conclusion, the drummer in a passing band tosses Max his extra drumsticks. Pinkney's scratchboard illustrations, designed with a sure hand and overlaid with rich, subtle shades of sky blue, leaf green, and brick applied in free, painterly strokes, are superb; they vividly convey the imagination and vitality of this budding young musician. A perfect marriage of idea and art. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-671-78776-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1994
``Water is dew. Water is ice and snow.'' No matter what form it takes, seldom has plain old water appeared so colorful as in this rainbow-hued look at rain, dew, snowflakes, clouds, rivers, floods, and seas. Asch celebrates water's many forms with a succinct text and lush paintings done in mostly in softly muted watercolors of aqua, green, rose, blue, and yellow. They look as if they were created with a wet-on-wet technique that makes every hue lightly bleed into its neighbor. Water appears as ribbons of color, one sliding into the other, while objects that are not (in readers' minds) specifically water-like—trees, rocks, roots—are similarly colored. Perhaps the author intends to show water is everything and everything is water, but the concept is not fully realized for this age group. The whole is charming, but more successful as art than science. Though catalogued as nonfiction, this title will be better off in the picture book section. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-15-200189-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1995
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