Review by Booklist Review
Henry David Thoreau may be familiar to readers. Frederic Tudor, probably not. Cline-Ransome introduces both men and their connections to Walden Pond through poetic text that spans the seasons. In the winter of 1846, these men are considered outsiders and lowly "dreamers." But inspired by the frozen water of Walden Pond, Thoreau writes of its beauty and Tudor hires men to cut it into blocks. When summer arrives, Tudor ships 180 tons of ice to India's Calcutta (now Kolkata), and Thoreau observes the process. Yazdani's enhanced, detailed watercolors play with perspective, color, and texture to give Walden Pond's water a life of its own. When the seasons cycle again, the perceptions of both men have changed, and Cline-Ransome sums up their legacies, describing Thoreau as "a philosopher / a naturalist / a poet" and Tudor as "an inventor / a genius / an ice king." An author's note offers more details on Tudor's ice enterprise, acknowledging that most of the ice probably went to the British via the exploitative East India Company. Beautifully illustrated, niche history.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Employing free verse to illuminate a lesser-known aspect of history, Cline-Ransome contrasts two notable white men and "dreamers" of Walden Pond: Henry David Thoreau (1817--1862), there to write in his cabin, and Frederic Tudor (1783--1864), a businessman shipping the pond's winter ice to Calcutta. Yazdani's detailed watercolor and pencil illustrations depict the ice from extraction to destination, where Indian "workers carried blocks/ on their backs" to ice houses, in vast contrast to the tranquility of the pond's passing seasons as viewed by Thoreau. The artwork abounds with intriguing details, including the system used to stack the ice, and the "tanbark/ hay/ straw" used to insulate the load. An author's note expounds on the lives of both men, offering a sanitized view of Thoreau's actions but placing the ice harvest within the context of colonialism. A volume that invites readers to view Walden as "an inspiration for Thoreau/ a harvest for Tudor/ a bounty for both." Ages 6--9. (Nov.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1--4--The seasons of winter 1846 to winter 1847 structure a surprising juxtaposition at Walden. "Oddball" Henry David Thoreau meditates, and "bankrupt" Frederic Tudor exploits: a tenuous connection, but young Thoreau's imagination is caught by the journey of the ice that middle-aged Tudor daringly ships to India. Tudor rejected a Harvard education and failed many times, but persevered through business reverses to make, lose, and regain a fortune. As with Cline-Ransome's Overground Railroad and Before She Was Harriet, the text is lyrical, unpunctuated free verse, which can sometimes be a challenge to readers. For example, the absence of punctuation in this book can lead to unintended absurdities, such as the suggestion of fish in trees: "circled by pine and oak/ home to perch and pickerel." Cline-Ransome adroitly uses parallel phrasing to underscore the differences and similarities linking these men, whose public images radically evolved. Atmospheric watercolor illustrations splash ice blue across many pages, relieved by green in warmer months and climes. Yazdani expertly depicts ice-cutting, storage, and shipping, using bold compositions and perspectives, including a bird's-eye view into Thoreau's cabin (alert readers will find three chairs, not the text's two) and a vignette where Thoreau pours water caught by a hand in India. Pair this title with Robert Burleigh's If You Spent a Day with Thoreau at Walden Pond, D.B. Johnson's "Henry" series, or Bill Montague's Little Mouse; though these titles are for similar ages, they cover only Thoreau, unlike this text that includes the contrast to Tudor. VERDICT This unusual and striking double portrayal will appeal to nascent nature-lovers and embryo entrepreneurs.--Patricia D. Lothrop
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A philosopher and a businessman both take advantage of nature's bounty. "Oddball / tax dodger / nature lover" Henry David Thoreau watches from his small cabin as "Bankrupt / disgrace / good for nothing" Frederic Tudor and his crew methodically saw the ice of frozen Walden Pond into blocks and pile them up--not for local use but to be shipped across the world to India. Calling both men dreamers, Cline-Ransome employs spare free verse as she follows each of them. In her carefully detailed paintings, Yazdani offers views from elevated perspectives of the pond's changes through each season, Thoreau's cozy cabin, and ice that is first swathed in hay and sawdust, then loaded aboard the ship Delhi for its monthslong voyage. As back in Concord, Thoreau marvels at how "The pure Walden water / is mingled with / The sacred water / of the Ganges," on the other side of the world, Indian workers rush the precious ice through sweltering Calcutta streets to the homes of wealthy White residents. The pond has offered "an inspiration for Thoreau / a harvest for Tudor / a bounty for both." In her afterword, the poet explains how Tudor's visionary venture, which (plainly) involved inventive new methods of ice storage, reversed his flagging fortunes and why it seems likely that his customers were not native Indians but their British exploiters. Readers are left to ponder which man profited most from their association with a natural resource. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Grist for thoughtful readers about two visionaries with very different sorts of visions. (Informational picture book. 7-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
