Review by Booklist Review
A little girl and her parents live on a small farm in the dry Southwest, and they're struggling through drought. As they survey their withering crops with worried faces, the girl reflects on how the land has changed since Pá's ancestors lived there; where there used to be a river is now a dry bed. Kemp's poignant story about the devastating impact of climate change on agriculture is a sharp rebuke of the industrial origins of the climate crisis. Their circumstances are not due to just a lack of rain: "I would wish to change the hearts of the men who ran the rivers dry," Pá says. Espinosa's affecting artwork makes powerful use of a predominantly sandy-brown palette, which stands in sharp contrast to the lush blues and greens in the one moment of flashback. An author's note provides important context on how industrial agriculture and fossil fuel mining have contributed directly to the megadrought currently afflicting the Southwest. An illuminating, galvanizing choice, particularly for agricultural areas disrupted by climate change.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Zea Kemp (Desert Song) and Espinosa (The World Belonged to Us) begin this somber picture book at sunrise, as Pá lines the Latinx-cued family's boots up by the door. Though coffee burbles cozily in its pot, it becomes apparent that not all is well for the family, whose crops are beset by drought and more: "The tomatoes look withered on the vine. This is the second batch that hasn't made it." When a horned toad startles the book's dress-clad child protagonist outside, Pá explains that kissing the creature could grant a wish. Pencil and digital scenes alternate between a past landscape--"green as jewels. Fed by a cobalt river Pá swam in when he was a boy"--and the dry present-day terrain, about which the child's parents worry. Understanding that "hope is not enough. What we need is magic," the child wishes upon another horned toad, dreaming "for the land and the world as it once was.... For the world as it could be." Landscape-focused illustrations showcase the arid conditions alongside the worried, strained look on the characters' faces in this contemplative look at the real effect of a changing climate across three generations. An author's note concludes. Ages 4--8. Author's agent: Andrea Morrison, Writers House. Illustrator's agent: Elizabeth Rudnick, Gillian MacKenzie Agency. (May)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1--4--At dawn, a girl joins her pá and má to tend their beloved farm on land that has been part of their family for generations. The girl notices the different animals and crops that exist in their land, but also the dryness and dying batch of vegetables. Sadness takes over the family as they see the impact of drought on their livelihood and the once fertile and verdant land. When the girl finds a horned toad, her family believes she is filled with luck, and the girl uses the opportunity to wish for rain and dreams for a land like it used to be. The illustrations and endpapers transport readers to the southwestern landscapes of the United States; the author's note enhances the story by connecting the girl's dreams with the ongoing struggles of climate change, environmental justice movements, and how natural disasters become human disasters. VERDICT A book that motivates young readers to learn more about tending the land, growing food, and the impact of human overdevelopment on the environment.--Sujei Lugo
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
During an unassailable drought, a young girl wishes for rain. The child and her father survey their farm amid the hush of dawn. Spotting hungry critters among the rows of squash, tomatoes, and poblanos, the girl rushes ahead to shoo them away, Pá at her heels. When Pá notices a horned toad, he scoops it up and kisses its wee head. "Eww!" the child replies. "Then you make a wish," says Pá, "and let them go." Má laughs, and the three farmers toil through the morning, caring for crops that have withered under the oppressive might of a long drought. The land was once "as green as jewels," back when Great-Grandpa tilled it; it was nourished "by a cobalt river" that's since vanished. As Má hopes for rain clouds, Pá hangs his head. The girl, however, moves forward, searching for a horned toad's much-needed magic. She returns to her parents with a wish for an earth that could exist free from those who seek to exploit it. Kemp's pensive, elegiac tale unpacks the hard-earned minutiae of a farming family's everyday lives, as well as the encroaching consequences of human-fueled climate change, told from a young girl's compelling, vivid perspective. Each line mounts to a gradual call to action by the closing spread. Espinosa's striking pencil-etched artwork portrays arid earth, parched skies, and resilient brown-skinned people. The farming family is cued Latine. Tender, expressive, and important. (author's note)(Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
