An earnest, well-intentioned addition to the contemporary environmental movement.
Alexander-Heaton and Gabriell’s vividly illustrated, poetic picture book introduces children to the magic of nature.
Today’s kids will eventually inherit a planet whose natural resources and ability to sustain life will be rapidly dwindling. Author Alexander-Heaton and designer Gabriell have set out to create a fun way to teach young children about the importance and fragility of nature, using both rhyming poetry and mixed-media illustrations. Alexander-Heaton, who grew up in rural Manitoba, had a childhood characterized by a love of the wilderness, and her debut aims to encourage a similar perspective. What sets this book apart from other eco-aware titles is Alexander-Heaton’s inclusion of an imaginary world of fairies. Each fairy represents an aspect of nature and serves as its guardian. Quinella, for example, is “the ruler of the oceans, rivers and seas,” while Buzzalina flits among the flowers bringing happiness to all creatures. As promised, the book uses each letter of the alphabet as a prompt for both the name of the fairy (“E is for Echinops,” etc.) and for two poems, the first spoken by the narrator as a sort of short biography of the fairy and the second by the fairy him- or herself, encouraging the reader to help protect the butterflies, appreciate a rainbow, refrain from littering or find the silver lining to any cloud. While the rhymes are sometimes wrenched into a strict form, children will probably find a number of them delightful. Adults may find the poems and overall message a bit clichéd and the illustrations a tad treacly (and occasionally uncanny), but children will be drawn to the rich colors and unusual collagelike images. Overall, the work is an inspired invitation to preserve our beautiful planet.
An earnest, well-intentioned addition to the contemporary environmental movement.Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2009
ISBN: 978-0981304809
Page Count: 58
Publisher: Motivated by Nature
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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