Sweet but sadly bewildering.
A child befriends a bird then copes with losing it.
Theo, a brown-skinned boy with curly, brown hair, likes to feed the birds at the park. “He tried his hardest to aim his seeds toward the bird with the raggedy wing,” notes the text. When this bird is nearly attacked by a dog, Theo rescues it and brings it home to his grandmother Pearl, after whom he’s named the bird (and who shares his coloring but with gray hair). Grandma Pearl helps him care for the bird, and they even bring it to a veterinarian. After learning the bird doesn’t have anything wrong with it (it’s just old), Grandma Pearl is persuaded to keep it at their home to convalesce. The softly edged cartoons show cozy scenes of Theo caring for Old Pearl, and then they depict his sadness when the bird dies. Grandma Pearl helps Theo mourn this loss. A closing scene shows him carrying an origami bird he’s made in tribute to Old Pearl to the park, where he sees a one-legged bird who seems to need extra care, too. While a closing author’s note cautions readers not to touch wild animals, even in attempts to help them, the story and tender illustrations send a starkly different message, which may prove confusing. Also odd is the choice to color these urban birds a uniform yellow rather than representing them as something recognizable, such as pigeons. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Sweet but sadly bewildering. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6269-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
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
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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