Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 02/01/2017 Lou loves imaginative playtime with her friends—from fortress building to fearlessly rescuing (stuffed) animals. But when they decide to play pirates, and her friends decide a treetop’s the perfect ship, she hesitates because she hasn’t climbed a tree before. So Lou finds excuses—her arm’s sore, there’s a slug funeral to attend, an asteroid’s coming—before finally admitting she doesn’t know how to climb. Her understanding friends offer to teach her, but she still procrastinates and, hearing their fun above, also feels excluded. Eventually, the call to adventure wins out, and Captain Lou Skullbuckle heroically attempts to scale the tree but, despite repeated efforts, doesn’t succeed. However, what she does accomplish is notable—finding courage and determination to try something new and resolving to try again another day. Colorful line-detailed illustrations depict the multicultural cast of kids in familiar settings and scenarios, with cartoonish touches, speech balloons, and humorous details throughout, such as Lou’s cat’s background antics. Although tree climbing is the specific challenge here, Lou’s dilemmas, feelings, and experiences should ring true for many kiddos taking on new challenges. - Copyright 2017 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 05/01/2017 PreS-Gr 1—Lou and her friends love daring adventures, but when it comes to climbing trees, Lou sulks because she can't do it. Playing high in the branches of a tree, her companions are slow to notice Lou's plight. Midway through the story, they come down to offer help, but Lou isn't ready to climb the tree yet. After considering a few alternative ways to get into the tree, Lou gives climbing a try—and fails. Finally, recognizing her lack of skill, the friends take their game out of the tree and back to the ground. Lou holds no grudges and decides to try climbing another time. Digital illustrations include a set of culturally diverse, cartoonlike characters who are expressive yet somewhat unappealing, often set on a background of stark white space with some shading. The artwork is serviceable, but the book's main value is in the message it imparts—that it's better to attempt a challenge than to avoid it, although success is not always guaranteed. Lou goes through a range of emotional states in her struggle to overcome her inability to climb, but she doesn't let her obstacle defeat her. VERDICT This tale about meeting life's challenges and not giving up is a good purchase for medium or larger libraries.—Gaye Hinchliff, King County Library System, WA - Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.