So many of us have spent our Covid days pouring our hearts into our gardens. Here is the perfect book for your budding botanist. Ignotofky covers the life cycle of a flower with enough detail to appeal to children as old as 10. But the text is arranged so that a child as young as 2 or 3 could skip over the details about stamens and pistils and simply enjoy the narrative of the life of a flower. And readers will want to return to it again and again lingering over the distinctive and vivid illustrations.
Every baby should have this jewel among counting books. Not only is it an homage to the ecosystem of the Salish Sea, it’s a clear and kid-friendly introduction to the creatures who live there. I confess I’m partial to the page with “9 orcas hunting together”. But it’s when McClure takes us beyond ten that the book really shines. 100 sculpins, 500 dunlins, 10,000 plankton–readers of all ages are invited to contemplate the magnitude of the ecosystem both it’s immensity and it’s fragility. McClure’s trademark cut paper work, here beautifully paired with delicate watercolors, will delight the newborn drawn to the high contrast art, and satisfy the older reader with Its intricate design and satisfying composition.
Here are three things I love about this story. It’s has its roots firmly in Russian folklore, featuring the Baba Yaga character who is intriguing and funny and just a bit cranky and not at all beautiful. Sort of the anti-Disney princess. It has delightful illustrations. I am loving the trend toward more illustration in middle grade fiction. Cheers to artist Pauliina Hannuniemi for artwork that feels timeless. It features a wolf that feels suitably wolfish. And finally, it’s a saga to sweep you away without being one of these overblown 900 page doorstopper books that I’m finding a bit daunting to read at the moment. It’s fantasy on a human scale, a vivid and rollicking adventure, in the trappings of an old-world fairy tale, that proves a wolf doesn’t have to be big or bad to win the day!
One of my goals for 2021 is to post more book reviews of the treasures I find at Annie Blooms Books where I work part time. I’m going to try to post a short review every week. These may be reviews that have been posted at the bookstore or on The Mixed Up Files of MG Authors where I have a regular column.
My inaugural review is for my favorite picture book of 2021 so far. It would be my pick for the next Caldecott winner but since it’s a translated book from Vietnam it’s not eligible for the top American picture book prize. Having lived overseas, I have special spot in my heart for translated work. And because many of our school children this month are having their first day of school outside their homes, The First Day seems particularly relevant. What better way to celebrate this milestone than reading this book about the first day of school. Our hero sets out alone early in the morning in a boat on “the great river, the Mother Mekong.” The paintings are luminous, and convey the child’s pride in being big enough to make this journey, his nervousness about the creatures watching from the mangrove forest, and his wonder at the beauty of the birds and fish around him. Best of all (and I’m sure this will resonate deeply with children) he is delighted to see his friends, the other boys and girls who have paddled to school. The text of the story is gorgeous too, spare but rich in metaphor. This book is sheer joy.
