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
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
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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