A simple poem thanking the people who grow, transport, sell and prepare our food is transformed by Azarian’s bright woodcuts.
Upon a verdant, wood-bordered field sits the proverbial groaning board, replete with tablecloth and candles; seated around it are people of diverse ages, genders and ethnicities. This opening image effectively sets the stage with its pleasing composition, exciting patterns and exquisite details. Awkwardly laid out under this strong opening, spread-spanning illustration is the prosaic but certainly accessible-to-all introduction: “As we sit around this table / let’s give thanks as we are able / to all the folks we’ll never meet / who helped provide this food we eat.” The text is set along white borders of both single- and double-paged artwork. It’s essentially a secular grace chanted beneath furrowed fields, glistening seas and a harvest scene that includes a worker with an “Eat more kale” T-shirt. Old and young, men and women alike roll up their sleeves and get to work without regard to typical gender roles. Eggs, milk and honey are gently collected, sows eat, and cattle graze; in keeping with the reverential mood, only butchers are absent from the list of workers. One thoughtful sentence stands out: “Thank the ones who bought this food, / the ones who teach me gratitude.”
A warm celebration of both small farms and the idea that it takes a village to feed a child. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: May 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-88448-352-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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Hoping to have a garden like the one in her poetry book, Lola plants seeds, waits and weeds, and finally celebrates with friends.
The author and illustrator of Lola Loves Stories (2010) and its companion titles take their appealing character outside. Inspired by her favorite poem, the nursery rhyme “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” (repeated on the front endpapers), Lola chooses her favorite flowers from library books. Helped by her parents, she grows a grandly diverse flower garden, just right for a celebration with peas and strawberries from the family plot. Beardshaw’s acrylic illustrations show her garden in all its stages. They also show the copper-toned preschooler reading on her mother’s lap, making a flower book, a beaded string with bells and shells, a little Mary Mary doll and cupcakes for the celebration. Her bunchy ponytails are redone, and her flower shirt is perfect for the party. Not only has she provided the setting; she makes up a story for her friends. The simple sentences of the text and charming pictures make this a good choice for reading aloud or early reading alone. On the rear endpapers, the nursery rhyme has been adapted to celebrate “Lola, Lola, Extraordinary.”
It’s gratifying to see Lola’s love of books leading her to new experiences. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-58089-694-8
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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A polar-bear parent speaks poetically of love for a child.
A genderless adult and cub travel through the landscapes of an arctic year. Each of the softly rendered double-page paintings has a very different feel and color palette as the pair go through the seasons, walking through wintry ice and snow and green summer meadows, cavorting in the blue ocean, watching whales, and playing beside musk oxen. The rhymes of the four-line stanzas are not forced, as is the case too often in picture books of this type: “When cold, winter winds / blow the leaves far and wide, / You’ll cross the great icebergs / with me by your side.” On a dark, snowy night, the loving parent says: “But for now, cuddle close / while the stars softly shine. // I’ll always be yours, / and you’ll always be mine.” As the last illustration shows the pair curled up for sleep, young listeners will be lulled to sweet dreams by the calm tenor of the pictures and the words. While far from original, this timeless theme is always in demand, and the combination of delightful illustrations and poetry that scans well make this a good choice for early-childhood classrooms, public libraries, and one-on-one home read-alouds.
Parent-child love and affection, appealingly presented, with the added attraction of the seasonal content and lack of gender restrictions. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68010-070-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: July 2, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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