Spinner Shafter—even her name is a reflection of her father's determination to raise a fisherman (though she herself would rather be a dancer)—astounds her relatives and wins the family trophy from Uncle Auggie by hooking a huge cutthroat trout, a variety thought to' have vanished from the area. But Spinner is shocked and saddened when her father insists on mounting the record-breaking catch instead of throwing it back according to Shafter custom; that's one reason why she is happy when Cousin Al whose cabin she is visiting invites his "city mouse" age mate on a mountain trek with tents and backpacks, to solve the mystery of the lone cutthroat's appearance and the decline of his kind. They do, and besides saving the species they save each others' lives. Spinner earns Al's recognition as a "good woodsperson" — whereupon she gives up dancing to stay and help in a reforestation project for which their discoveries have won state aid. Though the direction of the switch is updated, both Spinner's early interest in dancing and her later total conversion to her father's model (she even cuts off her long hair) seems just as arbitrary as in the tomboy-to-prom queen changes of the past. And though no one can fault this author's ecology and woodspersonship, the fast-paced mystery plotting she gave a similar theme in Who Really Killed Cock Robin (KR, 1971) is absent from this more thinly populated and leisurely fish story.
Pub Date: May 20, 1975
ISBN: 0525321551
Page Count: 129
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1975
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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