Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Renata, an Afro-Latinx child with brown skin and two Afro puffs, is helping her bearded, bespectacled Papi complete the construction of their new bathroom. But their work comes to a halt one morning when the pair discover an unexpected visitor: "It's a little bird--a wren!--peppy and plump, with an upturned tail." The wren weaves a nest with his partner on the shelf of an open bathroom cabinet, and soon enough, "four rosy eggs with red-brown blotches" hatch. Rosen's prose is keenly observed, from the steps the birds take to build the beautiful little nest to the fledglings' flight lessons. Excelling in natural illustrations with a slightly cartoonish bent, Garoche offers fine-lined pencil art colored digitally in a soft color palette. This gentle story, with its respect for family, nature, construction, and collaboration, will lift readers' spirits as surely as Renata boosts the wrens. Ages 3--7. (Mar.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1--3--In this lovingly told story, Renata and her father, both Black, are remodeling their bathroom. Renata helps her father with supplies and assists him with holding boards. When the weather warms, they leave a hole in the wall open where they plan to put a window. The next morning, Renata discovers a pair of wrens have started to make their nest on the shelf of a hanging curio cabinet. Renata and her father put their bathroom remodel on hold as they spend the next few weeks watching the wrens build their nest, lay eggs, and take care of their babies. When it is finally time to fledge, the babies get stuck in the slippery old-fashioned tub and Renata comes to the rescue with a board to give them a halfway point to rest on their way to the window. Renata's father calls her "carpenter's helper" for the myriad ways she has come to the rescue. Caroche's sweet paintings show this very small human family at work, imbuing each pose with dynamism and emotion, and that's true of the wrens, too, intricately detailed and full of personality. VERDICT A low-key story about patience and its rewards; readers will enjoy Renata and her father's careful tending as the wrens settle in.--Lia Carruthers, Gill St. Bernard's Sch., Gladstone, NJ
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Review by Horn Book Review
It is spring, and Renata is helping Papi renovate the bathroom. They cut a hole in the wall where the new window will go, and one night Papi leaves the hole open. The next morning, Renata finds dried leaves and pine needles in a heap on the bathroom shelf; a wren flies in and continues building. Renata watches the papa wren make a nest. The mama wren arrives and lays her eggs, and Renata and Papi pause their construction project while the wren family grows. When the baby birds are finally ready to fly, they need a bit of help to make it to the window, and Renata uses her carpentry smarts to save the day. The story blends building and nature-watching in a unique and engaging way: the building project forms a relatable backdrop (Renata can't wait to use the old-fashioned tub they're installing) and parallel to the nature story, which takes center stage. The digitally colored pencil illustrations use a variety of compositions, including spreads and small vignettes, to carry readers through a detailed experience with the humans' carpentry project ("Renata...holds a board while he nails it into place. This board will brace the wall when he cuts the hole for the window frame"), and then the wrens' nest-building ("First he lays down a floor, a cozy cradle for eggs. Three thick sides go up next"). Renata is a protagonist whose wonder and curiosity shine throughout, and readers will gladly share in her unexpected encounters with these small visitors, who are, as Renata declares, carpenters too. Autumn Allen May/June 2021 p.120(c) Copyright 2021. 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
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature. Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open "like coats that are suddenly too small." Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche's drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest's many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.) Renata's wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
