In this delightfully simple offering, a boy and a girl spend the day fishing, hoping to catch some fish to fry for supper. Meanwhile, some apples fall into the river and begin to make their way toward the children. As readers follow the apples’ journey, they are treated to several pages of Kemly’s lovely watercolor and pastel illustrations of the wildlife in and around the stream. By afternoon’s end, there are no fish in the bucket, but the children spy the apples floating by. Eagerly they scoop them up, deciding that tonight it will be apple pie, instead of fish, for dinner. McDonald uses short rhyming couplets in fun language that echoes the sounds of the natural world: As two ducks check out the apples floating by, the text reads, “Slish and slosh / Apples wash / Appily quackily / Bobbling happily.” A gentle lesson that nature always provides if we are gracious enough to accept what she offers. (Picture book. 3-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-55971-977-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthWord
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2007
What if the market was closed when you wanted to bake a pie? You could embark for Europe, learn Italian en route, and pick up some semolina wheat in Italy, an egg in France, kurundu bark for cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and an entire cow in England (butter) before coming home via Jamaica (sugar) and Vermont (apples). The expertly designed illustrations in which a dark-haired lass journeys by various means to these interesting places to get her groceries are lovely and lively, and the narrative, too, travels at a spritely pace. The journey is neither quite logical enough to be truly informative nor quite bizarre enough to be satisfyingly silly, while the rich, sweet recipe that's appended will take some adult assistance. Still, fun. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 2, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-83705-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of...
An international story tackles a serious global issue with Reynolds’ characteristic visual whimsy.
Gie Gie—aka Princess Gie Gie—lives with her parents in Burkina Faso. In her kingdom under “the African sky, so wild and so close,” she can tame wild dogs with her song and make grass sway, but despite grand attempts, she can neither bring the water closer to home nor make it clean. French words such as “maintenant!” (now!) and “maman” (mother) and local color like the karite tree and shea nuts place the story in a French-speaking African country. Every morning, Gie Gie and her mother perch rings of cloth and large clay pots on their heads and walk miles to the nearest well to fetch murky, brown water. The story is inspired by model Georgie Badiel, who founded the Georgie Badiel Foundation to make clean water accessible to West Africans. The details in Reynolds’ expressive illustrations highlight the beauty of the West African landscape and of Princess Gie Gie, with her cornrowed and beaded hair, but will also help readers understand that everyone needs clean water—from the children of Burkina Faso to the children of Flint, Michigan.
Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of potable water. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-17258-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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