Review by Booklist Review
A creek flows through a prairie valley. Trout swim in it, birds and bugs fly above it, and frogs sit along its banks, until a farmer bulldozes dirt across it to make more room for growing corn. Years later, Mike buys that Iowa cornfield and begins restoring the prairie. Surprised to hear that a neighbor once caught trout in a creek there, Mike finds an old map, uses big machinery to dredge out the creek bed and line it with rocks, and plants grasses along its banks. Soon Brook Creek flows again, a vital part of the prairie. Author of the Caldecott Medal winner Snowflake Bentley (1998), Martin builds children's interest with pertinent details and with questions. How can Mike bring truckloads of rocks across his prairie without destroying it? Will the trout eggs survive the frigid water to hatch in spring? McGehee's scratchboard-and-watercolor illustrations feature strong black lines and curving shapes defining the hills, grasses, trees, clouds, wildlife, people, and creek. A heartening picture book that celebrates the thoughtful restoration of a prairie.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Elaborate scratchboard etchings and a lyrical narrative tell of a creek's rebirth in northeastern Iowa. Filled with dirt to make way for farmland long ago, Brook Creek flows once again thanks to the efforts of scientist Michael Osterholm and his friends to restore a prairie ecosystem on his land. The story springs to life through Martin's (Alice Waters and the Trip to Delicious) buoyant, personified language: "The excavator had found the old stream./ Would water fill the path?/ Mike said the water remembered./ It seeped in from the sides... burbled into holes, filled the creek." McGehee's (North Woods Girl) vibrant, stylized illustrations show nearly smiling fish, birds, and insects populating their new habitat. From excavation to riparian planting to fish stocking, the reclamation steps appear as section headings ("Scraping and Digging," "Time for Trout") and additional facts swirl, ribbonlike, through scenes in a tiny typeface. This hopeful tale ends with author and illustrator notes, as well as encouraging words from Osterholm: "We can restore parts of our world that have been lost or degraded," he writes. "We can change the world by acting on our dreams." Ages 4-up. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3-Dedicated to "those who take care of our green places," this true account of how native Iowan Michael Osterholm "found" and restored a lost creek teaches children about ecosystems, problem-solving, and determination. When a neighbor told Osterholm that he once caught a brook trout in Osterholm's newly acquired cornfield, a dream was born. ("Mike knew there must have been a creek on that prairie. He wanted to find the creek, make a place for brook trout, birds, bugs, and frogs.... Others laughed, said Mike's plan was foolishness. Lost is lost.") With a little help from his friends and some heavy machines, he located the bottom of the creek and cleared its path. But Osterholm's dream required both hard work and patience-he planted grass and green shoots on the banks and waited three summers for them to grow. Gradually plants grew, and insects and small fish appeared. Finally, it was time to introduce the trout. McGehee traveled to the actual site to witness the water and wildlife firsthand before producing her stunning illustrations. ("I wanted to re-create the textures and colors I saw, so readers could 'walk' alongside Brook Creek as they learned about its restoration.") The text is broken up with chapter headings, such as "Trout in a Cornfield" and "Fish Squiggles," and small, italicized sidebars in blades of grass or streams of water provide additional information. VERDICT Eloquent narrative nonfiction to inspire the future caretakers of our planet.-Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools © Copyright 2017. 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 Kirkus Book Review
Bulldozed years earlier and filled to make a cornfield, a lost creek is found and restored on an Iowa farm. When Michael Osterholm learned that a creek had once run under his farmland, he determined to restore it. Following old photographs and using heavy machinery to uncover the original bed and add stones to the bottom, he then planted grasses, providing the necessary ingredients for the creek to thrive again. "Mike said the water remembered. / It seeped in from the sides, / raced down the riffles and runs, / burbled into holes, filled the creek." Plants, insects, frogs, birds, and small fish called sculpin returned on their own. A final touch was to stock the stream with the brook trout that once made it their home. Illustrator McGehee's made her ripply, creature-filled illustrations look like painted woodcuts by using scratchboard, watercolor, and dyes. Her curving lines are filled with life. One striking spread has no color, only the gray outlines of what is to come. Although Osterholm and the restorers appear to be white in the illustrations, a multiracial group is shown enjoying the restored creek at the end. Short lines of text are set in clear areas, but occasionally extra facts appear in tiny letters on the vegetation. The main narrative reads smoothly aloud, and the pictures, though detailed, should show well to a small group. Author's and illustrator's notes and a comment from the actual creek rescuer complete the package. A heartening story of environmental restoration. (Informational picture book. 5-9) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
