Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 03/01/2015 PreS-Gr 2—Paul's poetic text highlights various forms water takes as it follows a brother and sister through the year. It includes autumn fog and rain, frozen ponds and falling snow, steam from cups of cocoa, and snowmelt turning dirt to mud. Chin once again demonstrates his mastery of nature illustration, infusing familiar outdoor scenes with simple kid-centric activities that will hold readers' attention while they listen to the text. Although not as dramatic as George Ella Lyon's All the Water in the World (S. & S., 2011), Paul's introduction to the water cycle includes more information that will help extend learning. She provides examples of the water content of various living things and stresses Earth's limited supply of fresh water. The author ties explanations of processes such as evaporation and condensation to pages of the text. VERDICT A first-rate introduction to the water cycle for young readers.—Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University Library, Mankato - Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 03/15/2015 In this gentle and very cleverly rhymed book, basics of the water cycle are conveyed through what otherwise looks and feels like a narrative picture book. An effortlessly multicultural cast of kids floats, darts, and dallies through various seasons of the year, while Paul uses each spread to introduce the next phase of water. Example: “Misty. / Twisty. / Where is the town? / Fog is fog unless . . .”—page turn—“it falls down. / Patter. / Splatter. / What is that sound? / Rain is rain unless . . .” You rather want to know how the line ends, don’t you? This excellent rhythm, which often uses ideas and images beyond what you’d expect, is matched by Chin’s playful, soft-hued, but always realistic watercolor-and-gouache paintings. Chin is especially adept at portraying light sources, whether they be an early morning glow through kitchen windows, a foggy street through which a school bus creeps, or the blinding golds of autumn sunshine through leaves. A two-page section at the back supplies a bit of the science behind these everyday miracles. - Copyright 2015 Booklist.

Bulletin for the Center... - 07/01/2015 As a sister and brother pass through a cycle of seasons, occupied with play, school, and family time, the water that nurtures their world undergoes continual change. Vapor that cools high in the sky takes on fascinating shapes: “A dragon in a wagon?/ A crow kneading dough?/ Clouds are clouds unless . . . / they form low.” A page turn moves the cloud-gazing kids from summer into autumn, where they stand among fallen leaves and wait for their school bus to emerge over a fog-banked rise: “Misty. Twisty./ Where is the town?/ Fog is fog unless . . . / it falls down.” Here they arrive at school just in time for the “patter. Splatter” of rain. While the states of water are described in everyday language throughout the linked verses, a concluding note, with thumbnails referring to specific points in the text, offers additional information and more precise terminology. Younger children can easily follow pictures and poem to connect a puddle soaking the roots of a tree with the apples pressed into cider in the next spread; older listeners and independent readers can turn to the back pages and learn about “seepage,” “uptake,” and the watery composition of the apples that are squeezed for their liquid. Watercolor scenes invite close examination—brother chases sister off the school bus with a garter snake; neighbor kids armed with snowballs sneak around the corner of the house to ambush snowman makers; sister’s butterfly kite gets stuck in a tree; a novice skater crashes into a snowbank. Lists of sources and children’s materials for further reading are included. Follow this, if possible, with a group walk around the block to talk about where the water is. EB - Copyright 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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