Rooted in the Vermont countryside, Caldecott-artist Azarian’s (Snowflake Bentley, 1998, etc.) signature woodcuts brighten Kinsey-Warnock’s (Lumber Camp Library, p. 572, etc.) pedestrian account of growing up on a Vermont farm. After hearing their mother’s stories of Scottish ancestors, the children wonder why their forebears moved to the land (Vermont) that demanded much hard work. Through the seasons, from dawn till dusk, reminisces of difficult work, as well as the storytelling, eating sweet maple candy, and fishing are enumerated. The idyllic childhood routine: long-hot days of summer, sugaring time in the spring, mud-filled afternoons, Sunday drives; building fences, picking stones from the fields, mowing grass, baling hay, making apple cider in the autumn; and a myriad of other activities helps to build a family narrative. The sturdy woodcuts complement the text, despite the fact that a few, particularly the night scenes, seem too dark and somewhat uninspired. Selected photographs from the author’s and illustrator’s family albums, appended at the end, reinforce the notion that this is a very personal story of the simple pleasures of a rural life gone by. While not Azarian’s best work the illustrations are nonetheless a significant factor in making this unexciting but comfortable tale one that readers will enjoy reading. (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2002
ISBN: 0-618-18655-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2002
Gooney Bird Greene (with a silent E) is not your average second grader. She arrives in Mrs. Pidgeon’s class announcing: “I’m your new student and I just moved here from China. I want a desk right smack in the middle of the room, because I like to be right smack in the middle of everything.” Everything about her is unusual and mysterious—her clothes, hairstyles, even her lunches. Since the second graders have never met anyone like Gooney Bird, they want to hear more about her. Mrs. Pidgeon has been talking to the class about what makes a good story, so it stands to reason that Gooney will get her chance. She tells a series of stories that explain her name, how she came from China on a flying carpet, how she got diamond earrings at the prince’s palace, and why she was late for school (because she was directing a symphony orchestra). And her stories are “absolutely true.” Actually, they are explainable and mesh precisely with the teacher’s lesson, more important, they are a clever device that exemplify the elements of good storytelling and writing and also demonstrate how everyone can turn everyday events into stories. Savvy teachers should take note and add this to their shelf of “how a story is made” titles. Gooney Bird’s stories are printed in larger type than the narrative and the black-and-white drawings add the right touch of sauciness (only the cover is in color). A hybrid of Harriet, Blossom, and Anastasia, irrepressible Gooney Bird is that rare bird in children’s fiction: one that instantly becomes an amusing and popular favorite. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-618-23848-4
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Walter Lorraine/Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002
Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
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