After reading five reviews for the book And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano in the School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, The Horn Book ,The Booklist and the "New York Times", it seems clear that there are both similarities and differences found within the writing styles of each of the different reviews. All of the reviews are short, and they all describe the plot in a concise fashion, however some of the reviews reflect more of a personal opinion than others.
The School Library Journal recommends this And Then It's Spring for children from preschool to second grade. Here the reviewer quotes the book more often than what would be typically seen in a review in oran effort to illustrate the poetic writing style found within the book. The reviewer relates the pace of the book to an almost real-time waiting for the coming of Spring, explaining that she thinks that children will relate well to this feeling. While the reviewer makes the reader want to buy the book and read it, there is still a sense that something is missing from the review. It is almost as if the book has simply been summarized and described, without actually having given the sense of presenting a review.The reviewer only mentions the illustrations in one line, saying "Stead’s warm, finely textured scenes, printed from wood blocks and
enhanced with pencil, are imbued with realism and quiet humor."
In the Kirkus Reviews, the reviewer summarizes the book in one sentence at the beginning of the review. She states that the, "Rambling narration, elasticized with many ands, thats,
commas and a boy’s earnest concerns for his seeds, runs on, leaving
readers waiting and waiting and waiting—just like the child gardener." This illustrates the anticipatory feel of the book succinctly. Typically a narration referred to "rambling" would not be seen as a good thing, but in this case, it is what the author is aiming for. This reviewer dedicates more lines of the review to the illustrations in the book than the previous review. This reviewer gives a comprehensive review of the book in a short space, and makes the reader feel as thought they have a complete idea of the book.
The Horn Book has a review of the book that echos similar sentiments found in the previously mentioned reviews. Here the book is called "poetic" and Kathleen Horning, the reviewer, says that the author "...builds the tension with an expertise of a much more experienced picture book writer, and she gets the pacing exactly right." This well-written review has Horning intermingling her opinions of the book with a plot summary, as well as clear descriptions of the illustrations. This reviewer even goes as far as to compare the illustrations found within this book with the illustrations from the illustrator's 2011 Caldecott award winning book. She notes a change in palette but is comparative of style. This review, using quotes and comparisons throughout, helps the reader of the review understand the plot, tone, and main ideas of the book better.
The Booklist has a review of And Then It's Spring written by Ann Kelley. This review seems shorter than the prior reviews, while at the same time, Kelley has included more of the plot line of the book in her review. She also reviews the illustrations in a way that the other reviews did not,writing, "The woodblock and pencil illustrations give life
to animals so expressive and endearing it hurts, and the layout—a
mixture of full-bleed spreads and white-bordered vignettes—paces the
story well." In this way, she connects the illustrations to emotion and the pace of the story. Another thing Kelley does in her review is to relate the lesson that the child reading the story might take from it. She then goes on to end her review by saying, "It’s not easy to wait . . . and wait . . . but children, like the boy, may realize that patience often yields big rewards." All in all, this review not only tells the reader what the story is about, what the illustrations are like, but also goes into what children might learn from it.
In the New York Times reviews, the reviewer, Pamela Paul, starts the review by describing the landscape as dreary. She then quotes a line that most of the other reviewers quoted in some way, “First you have brown, all around you have brown.” Throughout, she spends the majority of the review talking about the illustrations, explaining how they allow the reader to share in the melancholy that the boy is feeling, something that is felt through the entire book. This may be why Paul seems so drawn to write about the illustrations. Paul does give vague looks into the plot line,but not as comprehensively as any of the previous reviewers do. Although she does something that none of the other reviewers have done, mentioning that this book may have appeal to the children's "... world-weary parents." She then ends the review in a way that mirrors the sentiments of the book, that feeling of waiting for Spring by writing, "If only we didn’t have to wait till the very last page for spring."
Bibliography
"And Then It's Spring by Julie
Fogliano, Erin E. Stead." The Kirkus Reviews (2012). Kirkus Book
Reviews. The Kirkus Reviews, 1 Jan. 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/julie-fogliano/and-then-its-spring/>.
Horning, Kathleen T. "Review of
And Then It's Spring." The Horningbook (2012). The Hornbook, 1 Feb.
2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.hbook.com/2012/02/choosing-books/review-of-the-week/review-of-and-then-its-spring/>.
Kelley, Ann. "And Then It's
Spring Review." The Booklist (2011). The Booklist, 15 Dec. 2011.
Web. 12 Feb. 2012. <http://www.booklistonline.com/And-Then-It-s-Spring-Julie-Fogliano/pid=5111578>.
Lukehart, Wendy. "And Then It's
Spring Review." School Library Journal (2012). School Library
Journal, Jan. 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/reviews/pretograde4/892941-319/preschool_to_grade_4_january.html.csp>.
Paul, Pamela. "'When Blue Met
Egg' and 'And Then It's Spring'" Review. New York Times. New York
Times, 15 Feb. 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/15/books/when-blue-met-egg-and-and-then-its-spring.html>.
Reviews
In the style of the School Library Journal.
Zenz, Aaron. the Hiccupotamus. illus. by Aaron Zenz. unpaged. Marshall Cavendish Children's Books, 2009. Tr $10.68. ISBN 9780761456223. LC 2008051334.
PreS-Gr 2-This story follows a hippopotamus who gets the hiccups and disrupts his friends, the centipede, yellow elephant, and rhinoceros's lives. His friends decide to help him get rid of his hiccups, in many different ways, including drinking water, and even tying him to a buffalo. At the end they finally go away, but it turns out hiccups might be contagious. The story rhymes from the dedication to the ending. Zenz opens with " There was a hippopotamus who hiccuped quite-a-lotamus..." Zenz sometimes relies on made-up words that young children love. The illustrations are not loudly colored, even if the sky is purple or yellow they are fun to look at. Children can relate to something like having the hiccups that just won't go away, and enjoy the fun rhyme scheme. Zenz ends the book with a fun page of cast bios with small little bios of the characters in the book.
PreS-Gr 2-This story follows a hippopotamus who gets the hiccups and disrupts his friends, the centipede, yellow elephant, and rhinoceros's lives. His friends decide to help him get rid of his hiccups, in many different ways, including drinking water, and even tying him to a buffalo. At the end they finally go away, but it turns out hiccups might be contagious. The story rhymes from the dedication to the ending. Zenz opens with " There was a hippopotamus who hiccuped quite-a-lotamus..." Zenz sometimes relies on made-up words that young children love. The illustrations are not loudly colored, even if the sky is purple or yellow they are fun to look at. Children can relate to something like having the hiccups that just won't go away, and enjoy the fun rhyme scheme. Zenz ends the book with a fun page of cast bios with small little bios of the characters in the book.
Bauer, Marion Dane. Snow. illus. by John Wallace. 31 p. Aladdin, 2003. Tr $3.59. ISBN 0689854374 . LC 2002009524.
PreS-Gr 2-This story follows the journey of a little boy and his dog walking outside. They start outside in a brown terrain. As they keep walking it starts to snow, and the book describes what snow is and how it falls. The story then goes on to say what happens to the snow in the Spring when it melts. Finally, the story ends in the Winter. The last page of the book contains facts about snow, many that were within the story. The sentence structures are simple but the books contains a multitude of information that is digestible by children. The illustrations are water color illustrations that match up perfectly with what the story is describing. The illustration of the snow flakes and their composition is educational as well as beautiful to look at. This book is a great introduction to science for young children.
PreS-Gr 2-This story follows the journey of a little boy and his dog walking outside. They start outside in a brown terrain. As they keep walking it starts to snow, and the book describes what snow is and how it falls. The story then goes on to say what happens to the snow in the Spring when it melts. Finally, the story ends in the Winter. The last page of the book contains facts about snow, many that were within the story. The sentence structures are simple but the books contains a multitude of information that is digestible by children. The illustrations are water color illustrations that match up perfectly with what the story is describing. The illustration of the snow flakes and their composition is educational as well as beautiful to look at. This book is a great introduction to science for young children.
Numeroff, Laura Joffe. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. illus. by Felicia Bond. unpaged. Laura Geringer Books, 2007. Tr $11.58. ISBN 9780061128561. LC 2007921513.
PreS-Gr 2- The story follows a young boy who feeds a mouse a cookie. The mouse then wants a glass of milk, then a straw, a napkin, a hair trim, etc. This eventually leads back to the mouse wanting another cookie. The story leads to sometimes outrageous situations between the mouse and the boy and would be really enjoyable for young readers. The illustrations are bright and detailed. The illustrations accompany the story well. The story has lessons that are relatable by young readers. The story leads to such unexpected places that it is enjoyable to see what the mouse will ask for next and then winds up in the same exact place that it starts with.
PreS-Gr 2- The story follows a young boy who feeds a mouse a cookie. The mouse then wants a glass of milk, then a straw, a napkin, a hair trim, etc. This eventually leads back to the mouse wanting another cookie. The story leads to sometimes outrageous situations between the mouse and the boy and would be really enjoyable for young readers. The illustrations are bright and detailed. The illustrations accompany the story well. The story has lessons that are relatable by young readers. The story leads to such unexpected places that it is enjoyable to see what the mouse will ask for next and then winds up in the same exact place that it starts with.
Numeroff, Laura Joffe. If You Give a Cat a Cupcake. illus. by Felicia Bond. unpaged. Laura Geringer Books, 2008. Tr $10.36. ISBN 9780060283247 . LC 2008005860.
PreS-Gr 2-This book is one of the many that follow If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. The story follows a young girl who gives a cat a cupcake, which leads to the cat asking for sprinkles, they end up at the beach, the gym, the park and so on.The story ends as it began with the cat asking for a cupcake. This story follows the same concept as If You Give a Mouse a Cookie but the scenarios are more outrageous. They leave the house and go on adventures in this book. The illustrations are bright and colorful and children will enjoy seeing the hijinks that the cat and the young girl get into. Some things like the cat doing karate are very fun illustrations to look at. Overall, it is the same concept as If You Give a Mouse a Cookie but young readers will enjoy the progression of the story.
PreS-Gr 2-This book is one of the many that follow If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. The story follows a young girl who gives a cat a cupcake, which leads to the cat asking for sprinkles, they end up at the beach, the gym, the park and so on.The story ends as it began with the cat asking for a cupcake. This story follows the same concept as If You Give a Mouse a Cookie but the scenarios are more outrageous. They leave the house and go on adventures in this book. The illustrations are bright and colorful and children will enjoy seeing the hijinks that the cat and the young girl get into. Some things like the cat doing karate are very fun illustrations to look at. Overall, it is the same concept as If You Give a Mouse a Cookie but young readers will enjoy the progression of the story.
Sendak, Maurice. Where the Wild Things Are. illus. by Maurice Sendak. unpaged. HarperCollins, 1992. Tr $11.41. ISBN 9780060254926. LC
2003267890.
PreS-Gr 3- This story follows Max, a mischievous young boy who is sent to bed by his mother without supper. He then watches as his bedroom turns into a forest and he takes a boat to an island where the wild things lived. He and the wild things have a "wild rumpus" on the island until Max is beckoned home by the smell of his dinner waiting for him in his room. The story is simply written, and many young children can relate to getting in trouble with their parents and imagining new worlds of fun. The sentence structure is simple for children to understand and comprehend. The illustrations that Sendak couples with his written story tell as much of the story as the words. The illustrations are layered and seemed textured. The wild things are supposed to be "terrible", but Sendak did not illustrate them as too terribly frightening for young children. The colors are darker than most children's illustrations that are bright and vibrant. The illustrations and the story line work together beautifully throughout the story.
PreS-Gr 3- This story follows Max, a mischievous young boy who is sent to bed by his mother without supper. He then watches as his bedroom turns into a forest and he takes a boat to an island where the wild things lived. He and the wild things have a "wild rumpus" on the island until Max is beckoned home by the smell of his dinner waiting for him in his room. The story is simply written, and many young children can relate to getting in trouble with their parents and imagining new worlds of fun. The sentence structure is simple for children to understand and comprehend. The illustrations that Sendak couples with his written story tell as much of the story as the words. The illustrations are layered and seemed textured. The wild things are supposed to be "terrible", but Sendak did not illustrate them as too terribly frightening for young children. The colors are darker than most children's illustrations that are bright and vibrant. The illustrations and the story line work together beautifully throughout the story.
