A genuinely warm-hearted story of gift-giving that has a nice, traditional feel about it. The scene is Dogwood, somewhere in the rolling hills of the American South, and there is a new parson at the All-Faith Tabernacle. The townsfolk were “mighty pleased to have him, so right away they decided to have a pounding.” This might alarm some readers, but they soon learn that a “pounding” has nothing to do with beating the parson to jelly; a pounding is “when everyone takes a pound o’ this and a pound o’ that to help make Brother Harper feel at home.” Mama is making a blackberry pie, because it’s a treat, and Papa is gladly bringing a bucket of fresh milk. Young Jory wants to bring something, too, something like his brother’s useful sack of corn or Granny’s basket of eggs, of which she is justly proud, but Jory is too little to put together a pounding like those. Grandpa’s giving an apple sapling—a gift he’d like to get himself—which ultimately inspires Jory to give the parson a nice bag of rocks, good throwing rocks he’d like to have himself. A low thrum of kindliness runs through the proceedings, as it does through the artwork, despite what appear to be empty eye sockets and really bad teeth. There are a countless good reasons to give a gift—as a treat, because it’s useful, makes you proud, or because you’d like it and can share in the pleasure—and they get a gladdening observance in this sweetly old-fashioned tale that’s a gift to its readers. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-688-15392-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2003
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
Enthusiastic and direct, this paean has a lovely ring to it.
Former National Youth Poet Laureate Gorman invites girls to raise their voices and make a difference.
“Today, we finally have a say,” proclaims the first-person plural narration as three girls (one presents Black, another is brown-skinned, and the third is light-skinned) pass one another marshmallows on a stick around a campfire. In Wise’s textured, almost three-dimensional illustrations, the trio traverse fantastical, often abstract landscapes, playing, demonstrating, eating, and even flying, while confident rhymes sing their praises and celebrate collective female victories. The phrase “LIBERATION. FREEDOM. RESPECT” appears on a protest sign that bookends their journey. Simple and accessible, the rhythmic visual storytelling presents an optimistic vision of young people working toward a better world. Sometimes family members or other diverse comrades surround the girls, emphasizing that power comes from community. Gorman is careful to specify that “some of us go by she / And some of us go by they.” She affirms, too, that each person is “a different shape and size,” though the art doesn’t show much variation in body type. Characters also vary in ability. Real-life figures emerge as the girls dream of past luminaries such as author Octavia Butler and activist Marsha P. Johnson, along with present-day role models including poet and journalist Plestia Alaqad and athlete Sha’carri Richardson; silhouettes stand in for heroines as yet unknown. Imagining that “we are where change is going” is hopeful indeed.
Enthusiastic and direct, this paean has a lovely ring to it. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593624180
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024
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