Review by New York Times Review
Cloudette, an impeccably cute cloud, has ambitions that outpace her modest size. "She wanted to make a brook babble. She wanted to make a waterfall fall. And she thought nothing would be more fun than giving some kids a day off from school." Her tale raises questions relevant to little children: Is there anything good about being small? Will I ever be as good as the big kids? What do clouds do anyway? They'll like the answers. THE VOYAGE OF TURTLE REX, by Kurt Cyrus. 40 pp. Harcourf. $16.99 (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Unbeknown to many a dinosaur enthusiast, sea turtles and plesiosaurs were prehistoric contemporaries, and this vision of their undersea lives will offer respite to those readers - child and parent alike - who've overdosed on dino dictionaries and Tyrannosaurus rex. With oversize, comics-inflected artwork, Cyrus ("Tadpole Rex") follows the lifespan of the giant Archelon in rhyming couplets. It's March of the Turtles - childbirth, midlife adventure, eco-threats and all. TO MARKET, TO MARKET, by Nikki McClure. 40 pp. Abrams. $17.95. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) With her distinctive cut-paper artistry, McClure ("Mama, Is It Summer Yet?"), follows a young boy and his mother on market day, when they shop for apples, kale, honey, smoked salmon and other green-market items, and traces each to its source. The style evokes a Robert McCloskey world of home-jarred jams, which may appeal more to parents, but kids will love learning how milk is curdled and honey collected from hives. SEASONS, by Anne Crausaz. 48 pp. Kane Miller. $15.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) This beautifully illustrated French import stands out from many guides to the seasons by framing the weather in terms of a child's sensory experience. Crausaz knows the preschool audience well. Spring brings ladybugs; summer is about fireflies. "The wind is blowing the ants with the seeds. Let's follow them." With its mushrooms, chestnuts and fog, "Seasons" comes across as très Francais, but will appeal to all children. ENERGY ISLAND How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed Their World. By Allan Drummond. 40 pp. Frances Foster. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 6 to 10) "Energy Island" opens with the power of wind captured by a pin wheel, an illustration that neatly encapsulates this remarkably accessible book about the path to energy independence on the Danish island of Samso. Sidebars explain concepts like global warming and wind energy while the story follows a class, under the guidance of its teacher, as they rally the community to embrace turbines, solar panels and biomass furnaces. WORLD WITHOUT FISH, by Mark Kurlansky. Illustrated by Frank Stockton. 183 pp. Workman. $16.95. (Middle grade; ages 9 and up) Smartly packaged for budding environmentalists and nascent vegans, "World Without Fish" combines zoology, oceanography, politics, food and global warming into a readable narrative. A graphic novel is woven throughout and together with photographs, and full-color illustrations creates an effective warning against a future in which tuna sandwiches are replaced by jellyfish salad. PAMELA PAUL ONLINE A slide show of this week's illustrated books at nytimes.com/books.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [April 10, 2011]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* The small Danish island Samsø has received worldwide attention for its energy independence, achieved by shifting completely from fossil fuels to renewable resources, such as wind power, captured on its shores. The leader of the movement? A grade-school teacher who started his visionary campaign with his students. Imagine if we really could make enough energy from the sun, and our crops, and even our own legs, to power up the whole island! In this first title in a planned series of picture books about sustainable energy, Drummond combines winsome, kinetic, ink-and-wash illustrations with a succinct, simply phrased, smoothly flowing narrative that describes how Samsø transformed itself. Some people had big ideas. Some people had small ones. But all were important in working toward our goal. The frequent sidebars that explain such terms as nonrenewable energy feel aimed at a slightly older audience than the main body of text, and younger children will likely need help grasping references to complex ideas, such as how electricity is captured and sold. Still, through the story of one community, Drummond offers a wholly engaging look at the ways we may produce and use energy in the future while delivering an inspirational challenge: We're all islanders on the biggest island of them all planet Earth. So it's up to us to figure out how to save it. --Engberg, Gillian Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Energy independence may not seem like a gripping topic for a picture book, but Drummond (Tin Lizzie) tells the story of the Danish island of Samso so engagingly that families may find themselves considering wind turbines for their backyards. Windy Samso was chosen for a pilot energy independence program by the Danish government. The government's choice doesn't excite the islanders to begin with: " 'Why us?' said Dorthe Knudsen. 'Let some other island take on the challenge.' " When a big storm knocks out the island's power cable, and the farmer with a big turbine is the only one whose lights are on, the project suddenly seems a lot more interesting. Drummond uses the island's high winds as a metaphor for the project's excitement with the oft-repeated phrase "Hold on to your hats!" Instead of spreads, the pages are broken up with many small spot illustrations (Drummond's loopy, sweetly tinted drawings make even immense wind turbines seem adorable); more extensive information about wind power appears in (appropriately) green sidebars. His honesty about the project's glitches makes the triumphant conclusion all the more resounding. Ages 6-10. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-4-The "ordinary" residents of Denmark's Samso Island reduced carbon emissions 140 percent in only 10 years, due, in large part, to a teacher's persistent efforts that accelerated after a storm cut off energy from the mainland. Wind turbines, solar panels, biomass furnaces, and electric cars helped the island achieve energy independence. Watercolor illustrations showcase this remarkable achievement. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
On Samsx, an island "in the middle of Denmark...in the middle of the sea," the inhabitants decided to "harness the wind" and become as energy-independent as possible. Drummond's vignette illustrations perfectly capture the community spirit as the Danes realize their dream. Helpful sidebar information expands the science introduced in the descriptive first-person narrative. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
(Informational picture book. 7-10)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
