Month: March 2015

Review: Special Delivery by Philip C. Stead

| Tasha

special delivery

Special Delivery by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Matthew Cordell

Sadie knows that you can’t just put an elephant in the mailbox, instead you have to go to the post office. So she heads there to see how many stamps it will take to send the elephant to her Great-Aunt Josephine who lives alone and could use the company. It takes far too many stamps and too much money to mail the elephant, so Sadie looks for another solution and decides to fly. But elephants are heavy and the plane sputters out and crashes before they reach their destination. Sadie asks a nearby alligator to guide them down the river and then jumps aboard a train where a group of monkey bandits armed with bananas try to rob them. Sadie and elephant join them and have a great time until they tire of eating beans for every meal. Finally, they board an ice cream truck after purchasing ice cream sandwiches for the bandits and arrive at Great-Aunt Josephine’s. However, she may not be as lonely as Sadie thought!

Stead has written a rich imaginative tale that takes readers on a wild journey. Sadie is undaunted by adversity, simply figuring out what to do next to get them closer to their destination. The entire book is unhindered by logic like pilot licenses and the thought of mailing an elephant.  Instead the world in this picture book is filled with an off-center zing that means each of Sadie’s original ideas are embraced by everyone. It’s a refreshing and fun approach to the story.

Cordell’s illustrations are wonderfully scribbly and loose. They capture the wild spirit of the book, the silliness and the move from one awesome idea to the next. I particularly enjoyed the illustrations of the post office and the great-aunt’s home. Both are simply people standing underneath trees that are shedding their leaves. This cheery openness and connection to nature immediately will have every reader knowing that this is an unconventional book.

A terrific picture book that offers up a cheery, silly and fun-filled journey with an elephant as a companion. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.

Review: Beautiful Birds by Jean Roussen

| Tasha

beautiful birds

Beautiful Birds by Jean Roussen, illustrated by Emmanuelle Walker

This alphabet book features one amazing bird after another shown in both playful and gorgeous illustrations. The book is told in rhyming couplets that feature a little information about each species of bird. The birds are exotic, featuring jacana, kakapo, and quetzal. They are mixed with backyard birds like robin, geese, nuthatches, and woodpeckers. Each one is given their own page on which to shine.

The rhyming couplets create a book that has a jaunty swing to it, moving swiftly from one bird to the next. The rhymes are well done, neither filled with sing-song tones or too forced. Instead they add a touch of humor to the book, a feeling of not taking themselves too seriously. The result is a light-hearted mix of silliness and feathers.

The illustrations by Walker form the heart of this book. Each page displays plumage with a grand style. Done with a modern feel, the illustrations are stylized and strong. One of my favorite pages has the color of doves changing to ducks along the page break.

Stylish, jaunty and fun, this alphabet bird book is no feather weight. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from digital galley received from Flying Eye Books.

Review: When the Wind Blows by Linda Booth Sweeney

| Tasha

when the wind blows

When the Wind Blows by Linda Booth Sweeney, illustrated by Jana Christy

Head outside on a windy day in this breezy picture book. When the wind chimes start to ring, a family excitedly gets ready to go outside into the fresh air. Together a little boy and his grandmother fly a kite that eventually breaks free and rides off on the wind. The wind blows the grass and flowers. It also sends the sailboats out on the water racing. The wind gets even stronger and a storm moves in with thunder and rain. They head back home into the bright warm lights of the house. There they are cozy and protected, unworried about the storm that continues outside. It is night when the storm clears and everyone is asleep.

Told in short rhyming lines of poetry, this picture book manages to be fresh and fun rather than stilted in any way. The rhymes and their rhythms offer a dynamic edge to the book, creating movement that echoes that of the wind in the words themselves. The attention is on both humans enjoying the breezy weather and also nature as the storm moves in. This is an invitation to head out into changing weather.

Christy’s illustrations are gorgeous. They have vivid colors and capture the movement of the wind. Just seeing the images evokes wind and breeze, as if fresh air is lifting off each page as you read. She also captures the joy of being out in weather, the fun of wild wind and the beauty of oncoming storms.

A beautiful look at weather, wind and rain that will have everyone looking for their kites on the next breezy day. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

Review: Penderwicks in Spring by Jeanne Birdsall

| Tasha

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The Penderwicks in Spring by Jeanne Birdsall

Released March 24, 2015.

This fourth book in the fabulous Penderwicks series is sure to please longtime fans and inspire new ones. While the Penderwick family is still the center of the story, the focus this time has moved to Batty and Ben rather than the older Penderwick girls. Batty continues to play the piano, loving music passionately. She has also just discovered that she has a noteworthy singing voice thanks to a new music teacher at school. So she has to find a way to make money for singing lessons, since the family needs a new car and to put the Rosalind, Jane and Skye through college. Batty starts a neighborhood business that offers services like dusting and digging up rocks, specifically a Ben job.  But the only jobs she gets offered are to dog walk, something that she really doesn’t want to do because it seems very disloyal to Hound, who died recently. Batty has big plans to unveil her singing to her family, but her planning goes seriously awry as Skye starts to push Jeffrey away from both herself and the Penderwick family.

Returning to the Penderwicks is such a treat. The new focus on the younger members of the family makes me hope that there will be more such treats to come too. Birdsall writes with a such a feel for characters. They all shine through, each unique and distinct from one another. Batty is the same person as that small child that we all fell for in the first novel and so are all of the family members. Adding a new family member in little Lydia is also a treat and she is just as special and wonderful as the others.

Birdsall’s writing pays homage to so many great writers, feeling both modern and vintage at the same time. Her writing is funny, wry and immensely comfortable. It’s a joyous mix of stories, chaos and noise. It is the pleasure of old friends and new adventures that you get to share. The springtime setting is beautifully conveyed and suits the story perfectly as Batty starts to unfold herself into something new along with the trees and flowers.

If you have read the previous books, this one is another delight. If not, what are you waiting for? Appropriate for ages 8-12.

Reviewed from ARC received from Knopf.