Richie's Picks: POND CIRCLE by Betsy Franco and Stefano Vitale, ill.,
McElderry Books, June 2009, 32p., ISBN: 978-1-4169-4021-0
"This is the water/the deep, still water/that filled the pond/by Anna's
house."
I stopped by Big O Tires yesterday to have a burned-out brake light fixed,
and I was chatting with the manager about having just reviewed RIVER OF
DREAMS. I told him how amazed I was that people were actually swimming in
the Hudson these days, and that scores of osprey and nesting pairs of bald
eagles were now inhabiting the river's increasingly healthy environs.
In response, the manager was telling me what a disappointing time he'd had
recently, diving at the Great Barrier Reef. He said that boat strikes,
pollution, and a tremendous influx of some variety of starfish -- due to an
unbalanced ecosystem -- had all taken their toll on that portion of the Reef
to which he had traveled.
Talk of balances and imbalances of ecosystems bring to mind some
exceptional environmentally-related books for children. I love Jean Craighead
George and Wendell Minor's THE WOLVES ARE BACK, which details how restoring
wolves to Yellowstone remedied a whole series of persistent problems that came
about by that ecosystem's being long out of wack. Similarly, in SHARK
LIFE: STORIES ABOUT SHARKS AND THE SEA, the late Peter Benchley explains how
one disrupted link in an oceanic ecosystem can cause everything to fall apart
and die.
Knowing how essential it is that young people become aware of the
interdependence of species in a natural system -- and the importance of each link
in that system -- I am incredibly excited about Betsy Franco's simple,
lyrical, beautiful, lively, exceptionally fun, cumulative-tale-of-a-picture book
that is POND CIRCLE. This is a book that shows young readers how a
neighborhood ecosystem begins with the algae in the pond and works its way up to
the howling, prowling coyote:
"This is the coyote/out in the dark/that stalked the raccoon/the hungry
raccoon/that stole the eggs/of the great horned owl/that dived for the
skunk/the shy striped skunk/that caught the snake/the garter snake/that swallowed
the frog/the loud bullfrog/that gobbled the beetle/the diving beetle/that
ate the nymph/the mayfly nymph/that nibbled the algae/the jade green
algae/that grew in the water/ the deep, still water/that filled the pond/by
Anna's house."
But what makes POND CIRCLE a truly memorable picture book are Stefano
Vitale's paintings depicting the circle of life in and about that pond.
I still clearly recall, a dozen years ago as Children's Buyer, first
examining Vitale's re-illustration of Charlotte Zolotow's WHEN THE WIND STOPS.
Vitale has an extremely distinctive style in which he uses oils on plywood
in a manner that the grain is often still visible through the paint. Over
the years I've been in love with so many of his covers and his picture
books, but this is his best work yet. The flying-in-your-face horned owl,
caught-in-the-act raccoon, and big-attitude coyote are absolute characters!
From the first two-page spread -- where Vitale utilizes the wavering,
concentric curves in the grain as ripples in the pond that, in turn, reflect
Anna's house in the water -- to the final spreads where the grains are
transformed into moon-lit striated clouds, POND CIRCLE is a stunning work of art
that will have young readers howling with delight.
"I am the girl/who heard the coyote/looked up from her book/leaned out the
window/ and howled back/"Hello, hello,/hello, out there,'"
It is so fulfilling to see that there are places like the Hudson River
where there is real progress being made on healing the grievous damage done to
Mother Earth. POND CIRCLE is one of those great picture book stories that
can help foster a new generation of budding environmentalists to continue
that healing.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks
_http://www.librarything.com/profile/richiespicks_
(http://www.librarything.com/profile/richiespicks)
BudNotBuddy@aol.com
Moderator, _http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_school_lit/_
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_school_lit/)
_http://www.myspace.com/richiespicks_ (http://www.myspace.com/richiespicks)
**************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy
steps!
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1222846709x1201493018/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072&hmpgID=115&bcd
=JulystepsfooterNO115)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings
by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book.
To change your LM_NET status, you send a message to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
In the message write EITHER:
1) SIGNOFF LM_NET
2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
3) SET LM_NET MAIL
4) SET LM_NET DIGEST
* LM_NET Help & Information: http://lmnet.wordpress.com/
* LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
* EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://lm-net.info/join.html
* LM_NET Supporters: http://lmnet.wordpress.com/category/links/el-announce/
--------------------------------------------------------------------
LM_NET
Mailing List Home