Review by Booklist Review
In his first book for children, wildlife researcher and Pulitzer finalist Weidensaul describes the epic flight of a yellow warbler making its spring migration from Nicaragua to Canada's Northwest Territories. His evocative language puts the reader in the warbler's shoes, so to speak, bringing to life the twitchy instinct she feels to embark on an epic journey. First she bulks up, eating caterpillars and berries, and then her flight begins. Lane's marvelously detailed paintings fill three quarters of every double-page spread, where one white strip is reserved for the text. The soft, light-dappled scenes are awash with color and convey the scale of the tiny bird's trip through the much larger world. Readers will delight in finding the small, yellow bird in every illustration, whether it's amid the branches of a shaded coffee farm, above a moonlit ocean, or resting in a backyard garden. There is also a lovely incorporation of racial diversity in the few instances where people appear: Nicaraguan farmers, a Black grandmother and grandson, and a Łutsël K'é Dene First Nation family. The appended spread titled "Easy Ways for Everyone to Help Warblers (and All Migrating Birds)" provides extra details about the yellow warbler's migratory route, followed by bulleted tips on keeping migratory birds safe and healthy. An awesome account of an awe-inspiring feat.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This painterly picture book traces the migration of a single yellow warbler, "the color of a ripe lemon," from the tropical forests of Nicaragua to the far reaches of subarctic Canada, offering glimpses of three children who spot it along the way. Lane's naturalistic art visualizes the journey over land and sea as the fowl flies through the night among other migrating birds. In Nicaragua, a brown-skinned grandfather tells a grandchild that people call the bird reinita amarilla: "They eat the insects that hurt our coffee trees," Weidensaul writes. In Florida, a Black elder introduces the bird as a yellow warbler: "She must have just arrived, flying all the way from Mexico across the ocean. Imagine that!" And in the Northwest Territories (per back matter), an Indigenous child who encounters the bird knows another word for her: iyesaze. It's a lushly wrought look at knowledge both intergenerational and regional--and how that knowledge connects people across time and place. Back matter offers suggestions for helping migratory birds. Ages 5--8. (May)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
The story of one bird's nearly 4,000-mile migratory journey. The female yellow warbler has lived in the highlands of Nicaragua for five months, but on this day, she feels different, and that night, she takes off to the north. She flies every night for a week until she reaches the Yucatán Peninsula, where she prepares for the unceasing 600-mile crossing of the Gulf of Mexico. Several weeks later, she finally reaches the shores of Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories, Canada, where she was born and where her mate waits. Along the bird's journey, Weidensaul introduces three children who spy her: a young brown-skinned girl picking coffee on her family's plantation, a Black boy in his grandmother's backyard garden on the U.S. Gulf Coast, and a Native girl celebrating the protection of her people's land around Great Slave Lake. Lyrical language will entice readers: "The tropical night air was warm and steamy. Snakes slithered. Bats swooped on leathery wings." Lane's realistic oil paintings take up three-quarters of each double-page spread, immersing readers in the habitats the yellow warbler passes through. The artwork varies perspective, sometimes focusing on the bird, other times pulling back for a wider view and giving kids an opportunity to seek out the tiny yellow creature. (This book was reviewed digitally.) No one who reads this can remain unmoved by this tiny bird's tenacity; this is sure to create avid new bird-watchers. (map, ways to help migratory birds) (Informational picture book. 4-10) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
