Well-intentioned but clunky.
The methods of two neighboring farmers pit chemical agriculture against naturally grown food.
Thump-Thump Giant raises produce quickly, utilizing a shed full of pesticides and herbicides. He fattens his cows and sheep with chemical-laced feed. Nearby, Grandma Snail raises her crops and animals without chemicals. She works harder than Thump-Thump Giant but shines with confidence in her food’s superior flavor. The farmers sell at side-by-side stands. Both draw customers but for different reasons. The giant’s robust food is cheap, while Grandma Snail’s is both imperfect and delicious. She sells out her crops, but Thump-Thump Giant always has unsold produce left over. The text crams the history of industrial farming into Thump-Thump Giant’s modus operandi. He sprays pesticides on his leftover food, intending to sell later. He packages heat-and-serve, preservative-laden meals for busy people. His Ready Meals are a hit until people sicken from eating them. Grandma Snail, meanwhile, writes a guide to growing and cooking natural foods and shares her farming knowledge with visitors. The didactic narrative is thick with stilted, over-the-top dialogue. “My child got a skin disease after eating Ready Meals!” one customer shouts. “I feel bloated and have indigestion,” another says. At Slow Farm, a diner avows, “I taste the refreshing and sweet flavor of fresh vegetables the more I chew.” Thump-Thump’s predictable reformation follows; pleasantly folk-style depictions of a diverse community elevate the package.
Well-intentioned but clunky. (additional facts, interview, activities) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-939248-20-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: TanTan
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2017
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way.
A young boy sees things a little differently than others.
Noah can see patterns in the dust when it sparkles in the sunlight. And if he puts his nose to the ground, he can smell the “green tang of the ants in the grass.” His most favorite thing of all, however, is to read. Noah has endless curiosity about how and why things work. Books open the door to those answers. But there is one question the books do not explain. When the wind comes whistling by, where does it go? Noah decides to find out. In a chase that has a slight element of danger—wind, after all, is unpredictable—Noah runs down streets, across bridges, near a highway, until the wind lifts him off his feet. Cowman’s gusty wisps show each stream of air turning a different jewel tone, swirling all around. The ribbons gently bring Noah home, setting him down under the same thinking tree where he began. Did it really happen? Worthington’s sensitive exploration leaves readers with their own set of questions and perhaps gratitude for all types of perspective. An author’s note mentions children on the autism spectrum but widens to include all who feel a little different.
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-60554-356-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Redleaf Lane
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
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