A sweet but never cutesy story with delightful illustrations.
A squirrel who loves peaches goes up against a gun-toting farmer in this book for early readers.
Farmer Fred has no family, but he does have “Tree,” which he protects behind a wall with a rifle. Tree’s fruit is enormously precious to him: “Tasting a peach just plucked off the branch was as close to eating heaven as you could get.” But no one, other than Fred or the judges at the county fair, has ever eaten them. Squirrel, too, adores peaches; indeed, they’re his passion. When Squirrel spots Tree, he becomes determined to get over the wall. Though other squirrels laugh at him, his hard work making a ladder pays off, and finally he tastes Tree’s fruit, which is “everything Squirrel had dreamed of and hoped for his whole life.” After Farmer Fred catches him, he realizes that the animal must appreciate peaches as much as he does, and he offers to share the fruit if Squirrel will help with guard duty. The two bond over their shared life’s work, but when Girl Squirrel parachutes over the wall next summer, Squirrel finds himself protecting her. Farmer Fred comes to a realization: “Eating peaches, together with Squirrel, made them even sweeter.” He takes down the wall and invites all the squirrels to share the delicious fruit. In this story about determination, following one’s passion, and the joy of sharing, Schaufeld (Larry and Bob, 2016, etc.) avoids obvious didacticism, instead focusing on the sweetness of peaches and companionship as well as the satisfaction of working for a goal. Fred finds real happiness in expanding his idea of family; both man and squirrel convincingly discover that passion shouldn’t become obsession. One quibble: The name “Girl Squirrel” assumes that male is the default. Returning collaborator Schwarz paints with pleasingly rich, saturated hues; the peaches look absolutely luscious, as they should. His realistic, varied illustrations capture expression and drama well, such as Girl Squirrel’s look of determination as she broaches Tree’s enclosure and Fred’s smile as he takes down the wall.
A sweet but never cutesy story with delightful illustrations.Pub Date: April 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-9972299-2-9
Page Count: 57
Publisher: Quidne Press
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-87175-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
Troubled teen meets totemic catalyst in Mikaelsen’s (Petey, 1998, etc.) earnest tribute to Native American spirituality. Fifteen-year-old Cole is cocky, embittered, and eaten up by anger at his abusive parents. After repeated skirmishes with the law, he finally faces jail time when he viciously beats a classmate. Cole’s parole officer offers him an alternative—Circle Justice, an innovative justice program based on Native traditions. Sentenced to a year on an uninhabited Arctic island under the supervision of Edwin, a Tlingit elder, Cole provokes an attack from a titanic white “Spirit Bear” while attempting escape. Although permanently crippled by the near-death experience, he is somehow allowed yet another stint on the island. Through Edwin’s patient tutoring, Cole gradually masters his rage, but realizes that he needs to help his former victims to complete his own healing. Mikaelsen paints a realistic portrait of an unlikable young punk, and if Cole’s turnaround is dramatic, it is also convincingly painful and slow. Alas, the rest of the characters are cardboard caricatures: the brutal, drunk father, the compassionate, perceptive parole officer, and the stoic and cryptic Native mentor. Much of the plot stretches credulity, from Cole’s survival to his repeated chances at rehabilitation to his victim being permitted to share his exile. Nonetheless, teens drawn by the brutality of Cole’s adventures, and piqued by Mikaelsen’s rather muscular mysticism, might absorb valuable lessons on anger management and personal responsibility. As melodramatic and well-meaning as the teens it targets. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2001
ISBN: 0-380-97744-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
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