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RED WOLF COUNTRY

This book brings environmental awareness to readers, not by preaching facts and figures, but by tapping into the forces of nature with matching artistic energy. Evocative pictures of a she-wolf and her mate are enhanced by text that contradicts the myth of the lone wolf. This pair is a true family, and the revealing of the she-wolf's secret lends warmth to the tale without anthropomorphizing it. The facts and figures show up in an afterword, where London (see above) explains how the rare red wolf is being reintroduced into the wild. The problems of reintroduction are dealt with obliquely in the main part of the book, by showing a shotgun-wielding human as the enemy. But the book's primary function is achieved admirably: to put readers in wolf country, running with the pack. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: March 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-525-45191-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1995

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I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER

Parent-child love and affection, appealingly presented, with the added attraction of the seasonal content and lack of gender...

A polar-bear parent speaks poetically of love for a child.

A genderless adult and cub travel through the landscapes of an arctic year. Each of the softly rendered double-page paintings has a very different feel and color palette as the pair go through the seasons, walking through wintry ice and snow and green summer meadows, cavorting in the blue ocean, watching whales, and playing beside musk oxen. The rhymes of the four-line stanzas are not forced, as is the case too often in picture books of this type: “When cold, winter winds / blow the leaves far and wide, / You’ll cross the great icebergs / with me by your side.” On a dark, snowy night, the loving parent says: “But for now, cuddle close / while the stars softly shine. // I’ll always be yours, / and you’ll always be mine.” As the last illustration shows the pair curled up for sleep, young listeners will be lulled to sweet dreams by the calm tenor of the pictures and the words. While far from original, this timeless theme is always in demand, and the combination of delightful illustrations and poetry that scans well make this a good choice for early-childhood classrooms, public libraries, and one-on-one home read-alouds.

Parent-child love and affection, appealingly presented, with the added attraction of the seasonal content and lack of gender restrictions. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-68010-070-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Tiger Tales

Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017

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MONSOON

Richly colored illustrations and lyrical text portray a girl and her family in India waiting for the monsoon season to begin. “[G]ravelly, grainy, gritty dust” blows on the wind and won’t stop until the rains come. The level of anticipation is so high that every engine rumble sounds like thunder. A koel (songbird) sings “in a voice like melting sunshine,” and heat waves “dance upon rocks and shimmer over rooftops.” Sometimes the viewpoint is angled upward to emphasize the sky’s importance. Saturated colors fill every bit of every page (there’s no white space at all), fully conveying the hot, dusty air and the sense of impatience. When the “stretching, sweeping sheet of rain” finally arrives, the girl and her brother dance joyously in the street. An expressive story about seasons, extremes, and waiting. (glossary, author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2003

ISBN: 0-374-35015-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2003

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