wind

3 Picture Books to Make Your Heart Soar

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Papilio by Ben Clanton, Corey R. Tabor and Andy Chou Musser (9780593693254)

Three well-known children’s book creators have come together to each tell part of the story of the caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly life stages. Papilio starts life bursting out of her egg. She eats leaves but then falls to the ground. She can’t reach the enticing strawberry above her without some help from a friendly mouse. In her chrysalis, she is safe and sound or so she thinks. A robin gets a bit too interested in her and it’s that same friendly mouse who rescues her. Finally, as a butterfly she finds getting to the flower a little more challenging than she thought. Luckily, the mouse is there again to lend a paw. Seeing the stages done in different but supportive art styles is a real pleasure.

Young readers will enjoy the energy and action in each stage. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

To See an Owl by Mathew Cordell (9780593649893)

Janie loves owls and dreams of being able to see one in the wild. Her teacher this year is a birder and his favorite birds are owls too. She tries to find an owl, learning about whitewash and pellets, listening hard and keeping an eye out. She even heads into the woods at night with her mother, but no owl is found. Months go by and Janie brings in her collection of owl information and shares it with her class. Her teacher is amazed and shows her on a map where he saw a pair of great horned owls. Could this be the clue that Janie needs?

This quiet picture book speaks to the importance of persistence and patience when entering nature. Watching Janie’s knowledge grow organically throughout the book is a treat. Cordell’s signature fine-lined drawings offer a glimpse of nature, Janie’s family and her search for the elusive owl. 

Appropriate for ages 4-7.  Reviewed from library copy.

Wind Watchers by Micha Archer (9780593616550)

Wind blows in a variety of ways. Fluttering spring blossoms, bringing spring showers. It helps fly kites and ripples the pond on hot days. Sometimes Wind brings a surprise thunderstorm. In fall, Wind scatters seeds and blows leaves off trees. Winter wind brings icy cold and blizzards. Celebrate the seasons with this joyful interaction between children and the wind. Written and illustrated by Archer, a Caldecott Honor winner, the illustrations are done in inks and collage. The nature scenes and the rain fall are particularly striking and will draw young readers in. 

Appropriate for ages 3-5. Reviewed from library copy.

I Am the Wind by Michael Karg

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Cover image for I Am the Wind

I Am the Wind by Michael Karg, illustrated by Sophie Diao (9781624149221)

On a cold and damp autumn day, a little girl joins in the windy day. The wind can breathe frost and bring fog. It can be soft as a shadow or scale the highest peaks in the north. The wind can run like the wolves or hug and settle in with the musk ox as night. The wind joins in the beauty of the northern lights and whistles around rocks on a snow leopard ledge. The wind can create storms in the rainforests, give pestrels a lift on their long journey, and whisper in cloud forests. Then it returns to an autumn playground, listening for the call to rise up once more.

Told in poetic language, this picture book celebrates the way that the wind touches all parts our world. It speaks to the power of the wind to help birds on their migrations and to create weather patterns. That power is contrasted nicely by the quieter sorts of wind and breezes in the book, examples of the wind at its gentlest too. The writing is strong and reads aloud nicely. The different animals highlighted in the book are interesting choices, making turning pages very enjoyable.

The illustrations carry readers across the globe, showing various animals and creatures in each habitat. The wind is depicted as swirls of color, almost dreamy at times and other times whooshing appropriately across the page.

Perfect for reading on a blustery day in any season. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy provided by Page Street Kids.

3 New Friendly Picture Books

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Adelaide_s Secret World by Elise Hurst

Adelaide’s Secret World by Elise Hurst (9781524714543)

Originally published in Australia, this picture book features a similar world to Hurst’s Imagine a City, a bustling urban setting filled with animals. Adelaide lives in the city and runs a quiet shop where she makes small models. She spent her days and nights alone, watching others rush past and noting those that were quieter like her. Caught in a sudden rainstorm one day, she sees a Fox that she has noticed earlier drop his book. When she returns the book, she hopes they will connect, but it doesn’t happen that day. Still, Adelaide does not give up and creates an art piece filled with connection and magic that may just make her a new friend. This picture book celebrates quiet people who still want friends and connection. Through the gorgeous glowing full-color paintings, Hurst creates a world for these two quiet animals to live in, one that invites readers in and holds them close. Appropriate for ages 4-6. (Reviewed from e-galley provided by Edelweiss and Knopf Books for Young Readers.)

The Digger and the Flower by Joseph Kuefler

The Digger and the Flower by Joseph Kuefler (9780062424334)

Crane, Dozer and Digger are three big trucks who work hard to build big buildings, roads and bridges. Then one day Digger discovered a tiny flower in the rubble. Digger took care of the flower, watering it, protecting it from the wind and singing to it just before he went to sleep nearby. Soon though, the empty lot that the flower grew in was needed for building. Before Digger could stop him, Dozer cut the flower down. Digger was so sad, but there on the ground were three little seeds. The illustrations have strong graphical elements with shots of color from the trucks and flower. A simple and lovely tale of death and birth, of caring for something you love, this picture book gives a big truck a huge heart. (Reviewed from library copy.)

Kate, Who Tamed the Wind by Liz Garton Scanlon

Kate, Who Tamed the Wind by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Lee White (9781101934791)

A man lived all alone at the top of a very steep hill where winds blew constantly. The wind blew so much that eventually, the shutters banged and the boards bent, and the wind tipped things over and just kept on blowing. Kate was a little girl who lived below the steep hill. When the man cried out in despair, Kate heard him and had a plan. She thought and thought, realizing that she could not stop the wind from blowing. But she could bring new trees to the man. So up she went, pulling her wagon of trees. The two planted the trees together and time passed, the wind still blew, but eventually the trees softened the wind and their friendship grew along with the trees. This picture book is so delightful. Scanlon uses rhymes, rhythm and repetition to create a story that is jaunty and wonderful to read aloud. She plays with the forms, so it never becomes sing-songy and is constantly surprising. The art is just as sprightly and warm, with a stunningly steep hill and plenty of vexing wind. The solution, provided by a child, incorporates nature and science. Appropriate for ages 3-5. (Reviewed from e-galley provided by Edelweiss and Schwartz & Wade.)

Owl Bat Bat Owl by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick

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Owl Bat Bat Owl by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick

Owl Bat Bat Owl by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick (9780763691615, Amazon)

An owl family is contentedly sleeping on a sunny day on a branch high in a tree. Then a family of bats arrives to hang below them on the same branch. The owls are awakened and slide down to another part of the branch, the parent owl clearly upset. Meanwhile, one of the owlets and one of the baby bats start to make friends and the little owl hangs upside down with the bat family. Both parents disapprove and everyone settles back into their own families, until they are disturbed by a strong wind blowing in. Soon baby owls and bats are being flung off the branch and the adult bat and owl are panicking as they search for their children. This might just be what the families need to get along!

This wordless picture book is nicely done with clear facial expressions on the animals that help the story be easily related to. The connection between the youngest of the animals is also very helpful, showing how bridges can be built by the youngest in the world. While this book is simple, it speaks to the importance of integration, diversity and wider community.

Turn the book upside down for a bit of a bat perspective on the world! Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.

Argyle Fox by Marie Letourneau

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Argyle Fox by Marie Letourneau

Argyle Fox by Marie Letourneau (9781939100092)

On a blustery spring day, Argyle wants to head outside and play. However, nothing works quite right due to the pesky wind gusts. He tries building a card tower and a gust blows it down. He tries creating a spider web of yarn and gets all tied in knots. He tries more robust games like pretending to be a knight or a pirate and each game is ruined by the wind. Argyle returns home sadly. His mother encourages him to keep on thinking about how he can successfully play outside in the wind. With lots of thought and even more work, Argyle comes up with a great solution perfect for a windy day.

Letourneau has created a picture book that celebrates the joy of playing outside even on a windy day. She shows the power of imagination as Argyle tries game after game. Then with some inspiration from his mother, Argyle himself solves the problem and finds a solution. The hard work he puts in is a critical part of the story as is his irrepressible spirit throughout.

The illustrations are very appealing. They have a delicacy to them that allows for small details that become ever more important as the story goes on. It isn’t until Argyle is in his room with all of the things he has used in his play earlier in the book that readers will suddenly see what the solution is. The clever art offers plenty of clues for children to be inspired before Argyle himself.

Perfect reading for springtime, this book invites children outdoors even on the windiest days, just make sure you have the right toy too! Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from e-galley received from NetGalley and Tanglewood.

What Color Is the Wind? by Anne Herbauts

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what-color-is-the-wind-by-anne-herbauts

What Color Is the Wind? by Anne Herbauts (InfoSoup)

A child who is blind walks through the world asking what color the wind is. He gets very different answers from those he asks. The wolf says the wind is “the dark smell of the forest.” For the bees, the wind is “the color of  sunshine.” The apple tree sees the wind as “a sugary color” while its roots view it as “the color of sap and pomegranates.” By the end of the book, the child reaches a giant who says that the wind is the color of all of these things. Then readers are encouraged to flip the pages of the book, creating a rainbow of colors along the way and a breeze of wind too.

Herbauts’ book is exceptional. She has created a book filled with the senses. She incorporates touch into her illustrations, taste and smell are in many of the colors of the wind, and throughout there is a feel for the lack of vision and the increased vitality of the other senses. The imagery she matches with each character’s point of view is spot on. It’s done in a lush and lovely way that makes the experience of reading it intense and fascinating.

The illustrations have raised ridges in places that can be felt by the fingertips. They also have gloss on them to bring some of the tactile features out visually as well. Others are almost hidden until you run your fingers along them. The pages are filled with colors and playfulness with the child’s black boots walking along from page to page and other pages covered in raindrops or laundry.

Immensely beautiful, lush and wondrous, this picture book is a feast for all of the senses. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Enchanted Lion Books.

The Red Hat by David Teague

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The Red Hat by David Teague

The Red Hat by David Teague, illustrated by Antoinette Portis (InfoSoup)

A boy named Billy Hightower lives at the top of the tallest building in the world, so high that he is above the clouds. Then one day, another building is built nearby. Billy soon sees a girl on top of the building wearing a red hat. Billy tries to call to her, but the wind sweeps away his words before she can hear them. He tries to send her a note via paper airplane, but the wind snatches that away too. The kite doesn’t work either. When Billy tries to use a blanket to fly across the gap to the girl, the wind pushes him down to street level and takes the girl’s hat too. The vicious wind continues to push Billy around, but soon Billy has figured out where the girl lives and finds a way through the wind to see her.

Teague keeps his text very simple in this picture book. He tells a straight forward story, but one that also is about loneliness and how important it is to reach another person. It is also clearly a book about love, about obstacles and finding an alternate way to connect and be together. Children may see it as a book more about wind, and that is completely wonderful too. Some of the best books work on different levels.

Portis’ illustrations use a little gimmick of the wind being shiny on the page. But these illustrations are beautiful in their simplicity and the wind itself is so capricious and involved in the story that it deserves its own style and feel. Done in only a few colors, the red pops on the page, the color of love.

A lovely picture book that can be enjoyed on different levels by different readers. It would make an interesting discussion for slightly older children about imagery and hidden meanings. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

 

Review: Whatever the Weather Board Books

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rain snow

sun wind

Rain by Carol Thompson

Snow by Carol Thompson

Sun by Carol Thompson

Wind by Carol Thompson

Four lovely little board books in this set by Thompson. Told very simply but with plenty of energy, these books look at different kinds of weather and children out playing in it. Rain begins with a bit of hesitation but ends with the merry fun of jumping into puddles. Snow invites children to breathe out clouds and plunk right down in the snow. Sun has clothes coming off and playing in a pool together. Wind roars from page to page but then in the end is gentle too.

Introduce toddlers to different kinds of weather and different seasons, but even more importantly get them outside to experience it themselves too!  Appropriate for ages 1-2.

Reviewed from copies received from Child’s Play.

Review: When the Wind Blows by Linda Booth Sweeney

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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.