Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 12/15/2019 That unsure wide-eyed look and the turned-back head says it all as a little red-headed girl sets off for her first day of preschool, holding her parent’s hand. Closing her eyes, she hears the sound of her very own wings, beating within.” Indeed, flocks of invisible white birds hover around her as she flies up and far away to find the imaginary treasures (tigers? animals?) that live inside her mind, inspiring courage. The friendly tiger begins a wild dance holding her hand while a koala with glasses, a crocodile in a ball cap, and other animals join in, evoking Sendak's wild rumpus. The wings of the girl's imagination give her strength as she joins a playground circle of other preschoolers (a multicultural group of children who wear glasses, a ball cap, animal hats, and a large tiger backpack). Every appealing full-bleed double-page spread, done in pencil and watercolor, offers lifelike and realistic details of welcoming children at play. - Copyright 2019 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 03/01/2020 PreS-Gr 3—There are times as a child and even as an adult when you feel a little overwhelmed and you just need to go off on your own. Sometimes removing yourself physically isn't possible, but escaping into your imagination is always a welcome option. Our protagonist leaves her warm, safe home with her preoccupied father to head to her busy preschool, where there is always some chaos. She uncertainly hugs her dad goodbye and begins to imagine flying away to a magical, safe place. The animals there make her laugh and dance and take her troubles away. Once her bravery returns, she returns to the present and begins to plunge into the tumult of play on the playground. Imagination is such an important, potentially soothing part of childhood. In this story, all of the animals she imagines come from the schoolyard she is standing in. From hats to T-shirts, the animals are there and incorporated into her imaginings. Imagination is front and center in Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, and a double-page spread of our little one strutting with a lion is reminiscent of that famous story. Judge's book will be a lovely jumping-off point to explore imagination in art, storytelling, and many other ways. Her soft watercolors perfectly illustrate the calming lure of the imagination. VERDICT This is an ideal book for elementary libraries looking to encourage imagination among children.—Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA - Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.