An easygoing story about seeking a place to call home and finding friendship in unlikely places.
Thompson’s children’s chapter book tells the story of an adventurous rodent who’s kind, brave, and looking for the good life.
Kudzu, a chipmunk, lives in a burrow in the flower garden on the Weatherbys' farm. One day, a stray German shepherd comes sniffing around and disturbs Kudzu’s burrow; fortunately, Mrs. Weatherby scares the dog off. While escaping further dangers, Kudzu ends up in the nearby woods, where he meets new creatures, such as Ophelia, an opossum. He also happens upon the German shepherd, but this time, the dog needs Kudzu’s help. The chipmunk then decides that returning to his parents’ burrow and reconnecting with his siblings is his best plan, but he’s devastated to find out that his childhood home has been bulldozed. Kudzu’s friendship with the dog, whose name is Quincy (“I heard someone read it off a street sign, and I decided to give it to myself”), grows as they teach each other about their worlds, and together they return to the Weatherbys’ place. Kudzu, Quincy, and a mouse named Stanley plot to ingratiate Quincy to the humans so that they’ll take him in as their pet. This chapter book is aimed at young readers, but it may remind older caregivers of movies such as Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993), in which animals, voiced by humans, wander around outdoors in a quest to get back where they belong. This story touches on some deep themes, such as parental loss, abandonment, and longing for connection, but the use of animals will make it easier to digest for a less-mature audience. Sometimes, however, the pace of the story is quite slow, with an excessive level of detail. The title also feels a bit misleading, as Kudzu’s life at the end of the book isn’t dramatically different from what it was at the start. Occasional realistic grayscale illustrations by Gledhill feature characters in various scenes from the narrative.
An easygoing story about seeking a place to call home and finding friendship in unlikely places.Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-63988-187-1
Page Count: 154
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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