An appealing story for young children that nicely demonstrates confronting and overcoming challenges.
A young bird overcomes his fears and learns how to fly in this debut illustrated children’s book.
Willy, a little sparrow, lives with his parents and siblings in a warm, cozy nest. When the day comes for the young sparrows’ first flying lesson, they are all excited—all but Willy. The truth is, he’s afraid to fly, no matter how many times his parents encourage him, telling him how much fun he could have. And this is a problem, because the autumn migration looms. Willy’s mother takes her brood to The Fine Feathers Flying School, where Capt. Featherblower—equipped with leather cap, goggles, and an aviator’s white scarf—instructs all the young birds. But when it’s Willy’s turn, he just falls off the runway. With all his friends laughing at him, Willy decides he’d rather walk than fly. Meeting some ducklings and a rabbit, Willy thinks it might be more fun to swim or run fast as they do. But he finds the pond water cold. He fails to keep up with his rabbit friend—and finally realizes that it’s getting very late for dinner. Willy, now understanding that only flying will get him home on time, gains new determination to face his fears and try again. He discovers not only that he can fly, but that it’s just as much fun as everyone said. In her debut book, Smith draws on her experience as a psychotherapist to address children’s fears about trying their wings. Willy’s first flying lesson shows how focusing on failure can create it: “Instead of watching where he was supposed to go, Willy kept looking fearfully into the sky above.” While pointing out Willy’s evasions and anxieties, Smith never makes fun of them. Success isn’t effortless for Willy—he really has to work at flying as well as facing his fear—but the book does a superb job of showing the rewards in Willy’s newfound independence. The writing avoids didacticism and remains lively and amusing, helped out by Martin’s expressively comic, charming illustrations.
An appealing story for young children that nicely demonstrates confronting and overcoming challenges.Pub Date: Jan. 23, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9912964-7-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Expert Author Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
In her first children's book, Parton (the country music star) turns one of her songs into a saccharine tale about a girl who is so poor that her mama has to sew her a patchwork coat when the weather turns cold. (Joseph and his coat of many colors are mentioned but never explained.) Despite the girl's love for her coat, she is teased in school, which she counters by trying to explain to her classmates ``that one is only poor/if they choose to be.'' The logic here is as flawed as the grammar, and Sutton's illustrations, while competent, show a well-dressed, happy rural family who look anything but poor. The text is both clumsy and irrelevent (it ends with ``Through life I've remained happy/and good luck is on my side./I have everything that anyone/could ever want from life.'') An apparently autobiographical song that has a hard time standing on its own as a compelling children's story. (Picture book. All ages)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1994
ISBN: 0-06-023413-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1994
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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
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