Yolen (Girl in a Cage, above, etc.) focuses on family, tradition, and the fruit of the earth in her latest effort, illustrated in golden tones by Shed (I Loved You Before You Were Born, not reviewed, etc.). Written in the voice of the girl narrator, the rhythmic chant begins: “Three months just past, I helped to sow, / Bringing the harvest home, / I planted wheat in every row, / Bringing the harvest home. / Each tiny grain was set in earth / To give the wheat a wholesome berth./ A summer’s coin, a year’s full worth, / Bringing the harvest home.” Throughout, Shed’s luminous full-bleed portraits, rendered in gouache and gently textured with the grain of canvas and brush, stretch across each double-paged spread, abutting text set against a panel the color of sweet butter. Shed captures Bess, brother Ned, mother, father, and others as they work the field. One stunning portrait, for example, pictures Bess bearing a load of wheat in her arms while her mother and sister work in the distance (“Two rows behind work Ma and Jen, / Bringing the harvest home. / They cut more quickly than the men, / Bringing the harvest home”). Shed’s elegant, yet earthy, portraiture and Yolen’s dignified language combine to transcendent effect; although the costumes (straw hats, plain pants held up by suspenders, and simple cotton dresses) might seem to indicate a different era, the work could just as easily be set in modern Pennsylvania Dutch country. Back matter contains an author’s note; in it, Yolen explains that the verse is based on traditional harvest songs, which are characterized by an evolving narrative followed by a repeated chorus. Instructions for making a harvest doll are also included. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-15-201819-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002
IN THE NEWS
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.
In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271170
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
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