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TAKE YOUR TIME

Name: TAKE YOUR TIME
Author: Eva Furrow
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9521-0

A TALE OF HARRIET, THE GALÁPAGOS TORTOISE

by Eva Furrow & Donna Jo Napoli ; illustrated by Laurel Molk ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 11, 2017

A journey of self-discovery in a unique environment.

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A Galápagos tortoise learns that everyone has his or her own appropriate rhythm.

Harriet, a slow-moving resident of one of the Galápagos Islands, endures the scolding of her neighbors, swims to another island “to see the penguin parade,” appreciates the variety of animals over, on, in, and under the ground and water, tries out speed by riding on a dolphin’s back, and returns with a new sense of self-respect. This sweet lesson is made even more palatable with engaging illustrations of cheerful Galápagos flora and fauna, including flamingos, iguanas, blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, dolphins, humpback whales, hammerhead sharks, spotted rays, Sally Lightfoot crabs, even centipedes and snakes. Created with block prints and watercolor and then digitally enhanced, they add an informational dimension, their light anthropomorphization echoing the personification of the animals in this imagined tale. The authors, a mother-daughter pair, have chosen to name their character after a real giant Galápagos tortoise. Taken to Australia in the mid-19th century, she died there, in a zoo, in 2006. Their language is relatively simple and the sentences short, making this text accessible to early readers, though unfamiliar plant and animal names may slow them down. Slowing down and taking time to appreciate everything around you is precisely the value this simple story reflects.

A journey of self-discovery in a unique environment. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: April 11, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-8050-9521-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
BOBBY THE BOLD
by Donna Jo Napoli & Eva Furrow & illustrated by Ard Hoyt

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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)