This flies high.
Sometimes parents need to be the wind beneath our wings.
This story opens with a young, tan-skinned protagonist with short brown hair making a pair of large butterfly wings (and a pair of antennae) so that they can pretend to fly. Leaving home, the protagonist wanders a verdant landscape, twirling and frolicing. Playtime is cut short, however, when a group of children tease the protagonist and try to pull off the wings. Frustrated, the child heads home to fume in bed. They are cheered up by their father, and the two repair and re-create the butterfly costume so that the child might fly again. Showing the bullies that they don’t care about their opinions, the butterfly child dances free, finding a friend along the way. The story uses spare language and lush illustrations to capture the joys (and societal pressures) that result from beating one’s own drum. The details of the acrylic illustrations may muddy in large group storytimes, but small groups and individual readers will find a strong message in the book’s pages. The bullies are male-presenting, and the only child to offer acceptance is female-presenting, but the father’s reaffirming role takes some of the sting out of the stereotypical gender roles presented. The book may tread familiar ground, but it does it so stylishly that many readers will be overjoyed. Characters are racially diverse; the child who befriends the protagonist is brown-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
This flies high. (Picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-302155-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
Wholesome? Yes. Proper hard work and teamwork values in place? Yes. Paint by numbers? Oh, yes.
Olympic gold medalist Morgan runs down the celebrity-sports-fiction checklist in this series opener: New school? Check. New friends? Check. New boyfriend? Maybe! New soccer team? Check. Inspire said team to take on snooty archrival private school? Check.
Quickly shedding perfunctory initial reservations, Devin sails into seventh grade at Kentville Middle School, makes instant connections in class and at Kangaroos soccer tryouts. She meets requisite bully Mirabelle at the latter, then goes on to be elected team co-captain. After a disastrous start to the season, she helps her team’s members and even the less-than-rigorous coach land on the same winning page. Following a sleepover, a dance, team-building drills and exercises, pep rallies, minor problem-solving and motivational strategizing, Devin prods the Kangaroos into position to beat the haughty Pinewood Panthers in a climactic rematch while also schooling Mirabelle, who has jumped ship to join the rival team.
Wholesome? Yes. Proper hard work and teamwork values in place? Yes. Paint by numbers? Oh, yes. (soccer glossary) (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: May 7, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4424-8570-9
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to...
A group of talking farm animals catches wind of the farm owner’s intention to burn the barn (with them in it) for insurance money and hatches a plan to flee.
Bond begins briskly—within the first 10 pages, barn cat Burdock has overheard Dewey Baxter’s nefarious plan, and by Page 17, all of the farm animals have been introduced and Burdock is sharing the terrifying news. Grady, Dewey’s (ever-so-slightly) more principled brother, refuses to go along, but instead of standing his ground, he simply disappears. This leaves the animals to fend for themselves. They do so by relying on their individual strengths and one another. Their talents and personalities match their species, bringing an element of realism to balance the fantasy elements. However, nothing can truly compensate for the bland horror of the premise. Not the growing sense of family among the animals, the serendipitous intervention of an unknown inhabitant of the barn, nor the convenient discovery of an alternate home. Meanwhile, Bond’s black-and-white drawings, justly compared to those of Garth Williams, amplify the sense of dissonance. Charming vignettes and single- and double-page illustrations create a pastoral world into which the threat of large-scale violence comes as a shock.
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to ponder the awkward coincidences that propel the plot. (Animal fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-33217-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
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