Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 04/15/2011 *Starred Review* Illustrator Meade (a Caldecott Honor winner for Hush! A Thai Lullaby, 1996) takes the writing reins, too, in this lovely ode to setting out on your own. With delicate, quirky rhythm, Meade describes the indecision of a little bird in a comfortable nest. The book begins by revealing the bird’s apprehension: “If in all of forever, / I never endeavor / to fly, I won’t know if I can.” On subsequent pages, the bird goes back and forth, weighing the pros and cons in nimble verse: “I could try / and find / that I flap / and I flail, / flounder and plummet, / look foolish / and fail.” Meade pictures the range of possibilities—tumbling, rising high, getting lost in the forest, and plucking “a sweet bug from the sky.” Combining watercolors, linoleum-block printing, and collage, Meade’s spreads feature blue and white skies that seem to go on forever, sturdy-looking trees and branches, and an ambivalent yellow bird made of cleverly cut paper. By the end, the bird has, of course, learned to fly, and the analogy with the human need to venture from home is perfectly clear. It’s a bumpy flight, yet one that manages to be both celebratory and comforting. - Copyright 2011 Booklist.

Bulletin for the Center... - 05/01/2011 This quiet picture book follows the ruminations of a fledgling bird debating whether or not to venture out of the nest. On the one hand (or “wing,” as the text reads), she might “flounder and/ plummet,/ look foolish/ and fail,” but if in fact she is successful, she might “rise high and/ float free,/ sail through the trees.” In the end, the bird takes her chances and, after a a few falls, ultimately finds herself soaring through the open sky. While the concept is thoughtfully presented and the little bird’s personal struggle sincere, the text is largely clumsy and the phraseology convoluted rather than poetic (“I won’t know/ if or whether/ a flight I/ might fly,/ should I choose/ to not ever give it a try”), making this challenging as a readaloud and nearly inaccessible as a readalone. While the agenda is a bit heavy handed in the text, the obvious message to try new things even if they are scary is a valuable one for young listeners, and the bird’s experience offers a accessible metaphor. Meade, illustrator of Minfong Ho’s Hush!: A Thai Lullaby (BCCB 4/96), uses watercolor and linoleum-block components to construct evocative collages of the story’s natural setting. The block printing in particular adds dramatic texture to the compositions, from the twigs of the nest to the bark of the trees. The sky, created with broad, wet washes of blue on white, successfully captures the attraction of the open space from the bird’s point of view. O’Malley’s Little Buggy is a more successful picture book about the daunting prospect of takeoff, but youngsters on the brink of new adventures may still find inspiration in this little bird’s flight into the unknown. HM - Copyright 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

School Library Journal - 05/01/2011 PreS-Gr 2—Meade's poetic message, delivered by a baby bird in its nest, is that you cannot succeed if you don't try. ("If in all of forever,/I never endeavor/to fly, I won't know if I can.") For a nestling, attempting to fly can be dangerous, but can also lead to finding friends, catching a meal, and seeing the world. While the message is a fine one to pass along to young children, in this instance it seems clearly intended for other young birds. The forced poetic text includes some sophisticated words and flipped phrases that hold little meaning for most preschoolers ("If I did endeavor, and found my wings clever,/I could see the world!"), yet the message itself is too simplistic for older children. The handsome artwork is clearly the focus here. Nearly all of Meade's eye-catching, stylized illustrations feature striking, patterned linoleum block prints in shades of green and brown on cutouts of tree trunks, branches, foliage, and a nest containing the yellow bird in whose voice the narrative is written. All of them are set against spreads of watercolor sky in several shades of blue and white.—Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH - Copyright 2011 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

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