Sure to lead youngsters to consider what they could be and do in nature…and then to plant a tree.
An imaginative round-robin survey of nature and one human’s part to play in the chain.
An unnamed narrator, seen only in shadowy outline on the final spread, imagines what they would like to be and do in the wild world. If they were a tree, their branches “would dance to the sound of the wind.” If they were the wind, their breeze “would carry seeds to the deserts.” The pattern goes on, through sandcastles/sand and the ocean to whales, salt, deer, birds, hummingbirds, flowers, mist, cloud, and back to tree to complete the circle. The actions described are a mix of realistic and fantastical: If the narrator were salt, they would “salt the grass that feeds the deer,” and if a desert, they would “play with the dunes to build sandcastles.” The final spread is a humdinger of an ecological message: Since they are none of those imagined things, they will “plant seeds for trees to grow and thus dance with the branches to the sound of the wind.” The stylized illustrations play with texture, color, light versus dark, and size differences to fascinating effect. The hummingbird kissing the flowers centers an up-close view of the flower, the beak and eye of the hummingbird just barely on the page. And the whimsical deer with bird-decorated antlers is a delight. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Sure to lead youngsters to consider what they could be and do in nature…and then to plant a tree. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781478885283
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Reycraft Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Another worthy book for the girl-inventor shelf.
A clever girl finds a way for her goldfish to participate in her class’s pet parade.
Maxine loves her pet fish, Milton. She also “likes making new things…from old things.” Throughout, the quasi-collaged appearance of the digital art style seems right at home with Maxine’s activities. Spiro describes Maxine’s inventive efforts with such verbs as “tinkered” and “repurposed” as she makes Melvin “a spectacular tank” and “a pedal-powered fish-feeder.” But her pièce de résistance is inspired when her teacher informs the class that they will host a pet parade at school. How will legless Melvin join them? Determined to prove some less-than-charitable classmates wrong, Maxine creates a “FISHMOBILE PET PARADE FLOAT.” It’s not quite clear why the contraption needs to be so elaborate in order to solve the problem of how Melvin can join Maxine. Why not just put a lid on the fishbowl and place it on a wagon? But, her ultimate creation adds more fun to the story (and more verbs: “fixed and fiddled,” “up-cycled,” “de-constructed and re-constructed”), as do Spiro’s many humorous asides and Hatam’s joyful, expressive illustrations. Maxine presents white, and her classmates are diverse.
Another worthy book for the girl-inventor shelf. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-399-18629-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
This sweetly unruly book is destined for mud-stained and ripped pages, as it is sure to accompany many a child on wild...
A child’s world appears in black and white—body indoors and face fixed to a screen—until another child zips by with an invitation to join in a barefoot ramble through the untamed outdoors.
To rhythmic, clipped verse, the pair runs, jumps, and swims through forest and water scenes. They pause to play, to pretend, and to savor. But it’s not all sunshine. A pop-up storm serves as a metaphor for life’s mixed weather patterns. “Rain dumps. / There’ll be slippery slumps. / Bruises. Bumps… / and ROTTEN STUMPS!” The storm passes and the sun returns, so the adventure continues. Covell’s illustrations are exuberant, projecting to readers the raw joy and wonder of exploring the natural world. Thick strokes of what looks like watercolor bleed past bold crayon outlines, creating a delightfully messy sense of movement. This pace matches the staccato rhythm of the fast-flowing rhyming text. The skin tones of the children shift through various shades of beige and brown. Though Covell’s intention for the racial ambiguity is unclear, this inclusion of brown-skinned children encouraged to run “wild” in green spaces is a hugely welcome one given their historic exclusion from same.
This sweetly unruly book is destined for mud-stained and ripped pages, as it is sure to accompany many a child on wild adventures in their own parks, playgrounds, and backyards. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: June 5, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-670-01411-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
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