Acutely joyful.
An elder from Manitoba, Canada, shares his memories of a traditional Salteaux summer event.
When he was a boy in the 1940s, co-author Chartrand looked forward to packing most of their belongings onto the horse-drawn wagon and then taking the two-day journey to the blueberry patch. Other wagons joined them, traveling in a line. The boy’s family had a stubborn mule, Dick, and a horse called Socks due to its white legs to pull the family’s wagon. At the end of the first day, the wagons stopped to rest overnight by a creek where nighthawks swooped above them, making funny farting noises. After a meal of bannock, the narrator and his brothers fell asleep to the sounds of the grown-ups’ storytelling. The next day’s travel took them to their destination, where they stayed for a month, picking blueberries to take home. Leason and Chartrand’s (both Salteaux-Métis Anishinaabek) bilingual text shares a look at an important traditional custom of the Salteaux people. The recounting is intimate, the crisp memory of a now-long-ago childhood recalled with sensory specificity that places readers in the moment. Leason, Chartrand’s great-niece, contributes vibrant, stylized illustrations that emphasize organic forms; circles and ovals within leaves, flowers, birds creating harmonious visual connections. A recipe for bannock and suggested activities for readers are included in the backmatter.
Acutely joyful. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-926886-58-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Theytus Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers.
Echoing the meter of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” Ward uses catchy original rhymes to describe the variety of nests birds create.
Each sweet stanza is complemented by a factual, engaging description of the nesting habits of each bird. Some of the notes are intriguing, such as the fact that the hummingbird uses flexible spider web to construct its cup-shaped nest so the nest will stretch as the chicks grow. An especially endearing nesting behavior is that of the emperor penguin, who, with unbelievable patience, incubates the egg between his tummy and his feet for up to 60 days. The author clearly feels a mission to impart her extensive knowledge of birds and bird behavior to the very young, and she’s found an appealing and attractive way to accomplish this. The simple rhymes on the left page of each spread, written from the young bird’s perspective, will appeal to younger children, and the notes on the right-hand page of each spread provide more complex factual information that will help parents answer further questions and satisfy the curiosity of older children. Jenkins’ accomplished collage illustrations of common bird species—woodpecker, hummingbird, cowbird, emperor penguin, eagle, owl, wren—as well as exotics, such as flamingoes and hornbills, are characteristically naturalistic and accurate in detail.
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers. (author’s note, further resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2116-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard.
A grouchy sapling on a Christmas tree farm finds that there are better things than lights and decorations for its branches.
A Grinch among the other trees on the farm is determined never to become a sappy Christmas tree—and never to leave its spot. Its determination makes it so: It grows gnarled and twisted and needle-less. As time passes, the farm is swallowed by the suburbs. The neighborhood kids dare one another to climb the scary, grumpy-looking tree, and soon, they are using its branches for their imaginative play, the tree serving as a pirate ship, a fort, a spaceship, and a dragon. But in winter, the tree stands alone and feels bereft and lonely for the first time ever, and it can’t look away from the decorated tree inside the house next to its lot. When some parents threaten to cut the “horrible” tree down, the tree thinks, “Not now that my limbs are full of happy children,” showing how far it has come. Happily for the tree, the children won’t give up so easily, and though the tree never wished to become a Christmas tree, it’s perfectly content being a “trick or tree.” Martinez’s digital illustrations play up the humorous dichotomy between the happy, aspiring Christmas trees (and their shoppers) and the grumpy tree, and the diverse humans are satisfyingly expressive.
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-7335-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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