Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 02/15/2016 As bright and colorful as the fresh food it celebrates, this picture book features 21 poems (including one on the back cover), six healthy snack recipes, and Moriuchi’s lively illustrations. Most of Latham’s poems are pithy odes to particular fruits and vegetables, but the first and last ones discuss the opening and closing of a farmers’ market. Here, too, are paeans to some other market staples: basil, farm-fresh eggs, and wild honey. Latham lets the food items dictate the form and feeling of each poem, as with “Onion” (“Remove its hairy roots, / peel its old-man skin. / Taste where it’s been”). Using acrylic paints and collage, Moriuchi has created pictures that stay away from strict realism. The market’s customers and the food appreciators are animals of all types: a frog rides a bicycle, a giraffe and hippo play pirates, a moose rows in a boat filled with purple hull peas. Food selection and preparation is rarely such a fun adventure. - Copyright 2016 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 02/01/2016 PreS-Gr 1—A collection of poetry that features a variety of foods found at the farmers market. The subject matter ranges from lettuce to wild honey and everything in between. While there are a few offerings that convey the excitement of a farmers market, many miss their mark and seem forced. Several examples, such as "Basil," seem more like short observations on a vegetable or fruit. Those with little understanding of poetic license are not likely to understand the author's intention and may find this work difficult to engage with. The bright, pleasant illustrations, which feature cut-paper animals, work well to enhance the atmosphere and convey the actions of the verse. A few child-friendly recipes are appended. VERDICT An additional purchase only.—Ellen Norton, Naperville Public Library, Naperville, IL - Copyright 2016 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.