The title of Mary Kay Carson’s new picture book drew me in:The River That Wolves Moved: A True Tale from Yellowstone. What?! How? I wanted to find out. Using the structure of “The House That Jack Built,” we learn why wolves are a crucial part of the ecosystem. Without them, elk overpopulate, overgraze, and, ultimately, cause muddied rivers to forge different paths.
Pages incorporate new lines while repeating what’s come before. Additional information is provided below the main text to paint a broader picture of each animal’s contribution to diversifying the environment.
Yellowstone National Park was created in 1872. In the subsequent years, wolves were legally hunted, trapped, and poisoned by rangers and ranchers. By the early 1900s, wolves were gone. Facts are presented in a manner that kids can understand and, rather than seeing wolves as the bad guys, we learn they are helpful and necessary.
The illustrations by David Hohn capture the beauty of nature through the eyes of a young girl and her grandfather. Evocative, warm art combined with the lyrical text make this important topic accessible for the youngest child, hopefully fostering environmental stewardship.
DEEP, DEEP DOWN: The Secret Underwater Poetry of the Mariana Trench
Written by Lydia Lukidis
Illustrated by Juan Calle
(Capstone; $18.99; Ages 7-11)
From the Publisher:
“Deep, deep down, at the very bottom of the ocean, lies a secret world. Through lyrical narration, this spare-text STEM picture book takes readers on a journey to a place very few humans have ever been—the Mariana Trench. The imagined voyage debunks scary myths about this mysterious place with surprising and beautiful truths about life at Earth’s deepest point. Deep, Deep Down shows a vibrant world far below, and teaches readers how interconnected our lives are to every place on the planet.” e
Lydia Lukidis and Juan Calle bring the underwater world of the Mariana Trench to life in Deep, Deep Down, a narrative nonfiction title with art that hints at the color and form that may be hidden down below. (Since no one knows for sure what that world would be like to the human eye, I appreciate the disclaimer given on the copyright page, though would like it to be larger to grab readers’ attention.) And while I would not call this a “lyrical” title (it doesn’t have the consistent rhythm I would expect from a lyrical title—even the non-rhyming ones), the text reads smoothly and the author has done a good job of describing this world using vivid, child-friendly verbs and adjectives.
I especially love the added sidebars and captions on each spread that indicate both where we are in the ocean and the creature highlighted in the illustration. These added bits of information (and the three pages of backmatter!) make this title perfect for all ages of fact-hounds; however, I’d like to point out that the suggested age for this picture book is seven to eleven years old. I can see this title being used in the classroom both as a science text and an excellent example of vivid language, and becoming a favorite of students who just want to sit and browse the beautiful illustrations.
“An iceberg shears from a glacier and begins a journey through Antarctica’s seasons. In the spring, penguins trek across the ice while krill stir beneath. With summer comes more life…the sun softens its edges and undersea currents wash it from below. When autumn arrives with cooling temperatures, the sea changes and the iceberg is trapped in the ice for the winter freeze. Then spring returns and the iceberg drifts into a sheltered bay and falls, at the end of its life cycle. But if you think this is the end of the journey, look closer ― out in the ocean, an iceberg shears from a glacier and settles to the sea, beginning the process anew.”
Review:
Claire Saxby’s beautiful, poetic language and Jess Racklyeft’s luminous art bring this nonfiction concept to life for young readers who’ll never see this ecosystem with their own eyes. Here, “ocean, sky, snow and ice dance a delicate dance.”
Though most people think of Antarctica as a cold, barren icescape, ICEBERG proves otherwise. Racklyeft even includes an amazing center gatefold highlighting the beauty and life thriving just below the ocean surrounding Antarctica.
Originally published in Australia by Allen & Unwin, Groundwood Books adds an author’s note and a glossary explaining the effects of climate change (without being moralistic) and positioning ICEBERG for use in the classroom. *Highly recommended!
Welcome to Day Four of The Wall and the Wild Blog Tour!
Scroll up or down for the full tour graphic.
The Wall and the Wild, the debut picture book from Christina Dendy with vibrant art by Katie Rewse is in its own lovely way, a call of the wild. Lured in by the cover illustration, I was beckoned on by the gratifying marriage of language and illustrations.
As the story opens, readers see a treetop view of a young girl, Ana, creating a garden. However, she’s overly picky about what she selects. There can be no flaws in what seeds she plants and her face shows when she is dissatisfied. “YOU, stay out THERE” Ana warns the disorderly WILD which, like nature, is really all around her. What doesn’t appear perfect she “throws into the untidy WILD.” With the WILD presented early on by Dendy as a character, my curiosity was piqued.
Intent on keeping her plot pristine, Ana constructs a stone wall, and soon her garden bursts with color and an abundance of beautiful flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Not only do friends come by to admire Ana’s garden, but so do creatures big and small. This feast for the eyes might please others, but Ana seems to only focus on the negative. I love how the author has added another important layer for children in this story about how limiting perfectionism can be. Ana finds and plucks plant intruders from the WILD whose presence mars the overall neat appearance. These weeds weren’t something Ana could tolerate. So, once again, along with more imperfect seeds, she tosses them all away.
Now Ana is more determined than ever. She adds onto her stone wall to prevent the WILD from coming in. Yet, rather than thrive in these conditions, Ana’s perfectly tidy garden seems to wither. The illustrations convey a quality of dullness. When visitors dwindle along with the plants’ health, Ana begins to question her intentions. Perhaps she was too controlling? Maybe it’s time to see what’s out in the WILD where all her discards have gone. “On the other side, voices babble, footsteps patter, and sunlight beams.” There’s a lightness to the prose and a hint at what’s to come.
To her surprise, a world of remarkable beauty awaits Ana beyond her wall. Here I grew excited to see Ana grow along with the WILD garden that’s flourished in spite of her efforts to thwart it. Seeing her realize that, as Dendy mentions in her back matter on ecosystems, “Seeds don’t need to look the same or ‘perfect’ to grow into perfectly beautiful, healthy plants,” is a rewarding moment in the story.
This lovely message of caring for all and how there’s room for everyone at the table or in the garden is as rich as the soil that Ana first tended. Something I missed on the first reading, but noted later on and truly appreciated as someone coming from a family with hearing loss is that Rewse has included the main character wearing hearing aids in her art. I can easily see this charming picture book included in classrooms’ STEM curriculums and as a great way to encourage outdoor, nature-based learning.
