Arresting art and an intelligent dialogue speak movingly to the realities of universal life cycles.
Two neighboring pine trees converse about the effects of natural forces in the first title that Canadian artist Stewart has also authored.
A sapling on the verso greets a mature specimen on the recto; they appear to be Scotch pines, the taller tree displaying discrete, undulating shapes poised at the tip of each branch. Even though they present a repeated perspective, the breathtaking silk-screened scenes are full of drama and movement, offering a range of moods as the colors and textures of the backgrounds and trees change. A wondrous spread features a purple, starlit sky with wind-swept, turquoise trees, one sheltering a raccoon. Green, snow-dusted branches hold an eagle’s nest against a peaceful gray sky. Stewart’s text develops a convincing relationship that suggests a wise, nurturing elder and an eager, loyal youth, all the while incorporating recent findings about tree communication and established science. The dangers caused by wind are described—stretched roots, dryness, breakage—as are the benefits: “my roots grow deeper and my bark becomes stronger. / The wind carries my messages…to other trees in the forest.” Sharp eyes will notice the subtle growth and deterioration, respectively, on either side of the gutter. A golden, wordless absence—and a new page that recalls the departed tree’s positive thoughts—provides a satisfying conclusion, as does the emergence of a new seedling.
Arresting art and an intelligent dialogue speak movingly to the realities of universal life cycles. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 15, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77147-433-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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