Sprightly illustrations and engaging rhymes will leave readers eager to sample market bounty.
A collection of poems celebrates farmers markets.
Beginning with “Market Day Today,” Schaub encourages readers to “spy the wonders / on display” where “farmers chat” and “musicians play.” In “Early Risers,” farmers “harvest, sort, / wash, and load” produce at dawn, and in “Transformed,” they convert city spaces into “tasty transformations.” “Pile Up” describes brown-skinned Farmer Rick meticulously stacking cauliflowers, peppers, beets, and peas in “perfect symmetry,” while “Is It Ripe” offers clues on testing cherries, peaches, melons, and apricots. Other poems extol the scrumptious scent of freshly baked goods, the twang and rattle of market music, the “ear to ear” joy of sweet corn, honey’s “liquid-gold alchemy,” and “eggs-traordinary” free-range eggs. Empty produce crates and brimming cupboards offer closure in “Day’s End.” Humorous, detail-rich, fresh-toned watercolor, graphite, ink, and Photoshop illustrations introduce a brown-skinned farm boy, a white city girl, and their respective dogs, who provide a diverting visual subtext as they explore the market while chasing their rambunctious pets across double-page spreads. “Fresh-Picked Reasons to Spend a Day at the Market” offers useful data on farmers markets.
Sprightly illustrations and engaging rhymes will leave readers eager to sample market bounty. (Picture book/poetry. 4-8)Pub Date: March 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-58089-547-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A gentle hymn to an autumn month. Starting with the landscape and moving on to animals, then people, Rylant’s voice describes the scene in immediate terms: leafless trees “lovely . . . spreading their arms like dancers”; birds that fly away and those that stay know “all berries will be treasures.” Cats sleep in barn corners and dogs before the fire. In November, an “orange smell” of squash and pumpkin and cinnamon fills the house: people come to share and to give thanks “at winter’s gate.” The brief, evocative text sits on full-page, oil-on-paper paintings. Broad, thick brushstrokes capture the sturdy horses, the little mice, and the country landscape from gray to brown to snowy white. The multigenerational family is clearly delighted to be together. A quiet, pre-holiday gift. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-15-201076-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2000
Sure to “net” young audiences, who will definitely root for the birds.
A peace-waging parable, presented with wry minimalism à la Jon Klassen or Tomi Ungerer.
Carrying nets, three hunters creep up on a sleeping bird in a dark forest, but thanks to their own clumsiness, they repeatedly manage to get in one another’s way as the bird slips off. Meanwhile, despite their frantic shushing, a smaller, fourth figure waves and calls out “hello birdie,” offering bread. Soon, an entire flock has gathered around number four’s feet—a flock that proceeds to turn and chase the hunters away. The text runs to just a few words per page, but it neatly serves to crank up the suspense: “ready one / ready two / ready three… // GO!” Haughton (Oh No, George!, 2012) uses a palette of deep blues and purples for his simple forest scenes; this causes the hunters’ googly eyes to stand out comically and also makes the fuchsia, red and orange birds easy to spot and follow. Last seen creeping up on a squirrel, the hunters have plainly learned nothing from their experience…but young readers might.
Sure to “net” young audiences, who will definitely root for the birds. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7293-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
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