Bound To Stay Bound

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Full Text Reviews:

School Library Journal - 09/01/2013 PreS-Gr 2—In his inimitable, deceptively simple style, Graham celebrates what can happen in a single moment and reminds readers to pause and observe. The text begins before the title page: "At 9:59 on Thursday morning, Jodie drew a duck." Next her baby brother takes his first step. As he does so, Graham cinematically pulls back farther and farther, showing other things happening at that instant: a jogger puffs by, a soldier hugs his mother, a blackbird finds a worm, a baby is born, and so on, until the story comes full circle. Jonathan falls down, Jodie tells her mother about his first step, and the clock strikes 10:00. Graham's detail-filled ink and watercolor illustrations are in full force here. Initially, Jonathan fills the page, but rapidly the view pulls back, expanding the point of view: the jogger is seen through a window, the block from above, then a bird's-eye view of the city, with the block, the hospital, and the beach visible, and finally a close-up of Mom hugging her baby boy. While the story is minimal, there is a lot to see and absorb. The detailed pictures bear repeated inspection, the characters are appealing, and the story is very child-oriented. This unusual offering will enhance collections and work equally well in classrooms or one-on-one. A worthwhile addition.—Amy Lilien-Harper, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT - Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 09/15/2013 Jodie is drawing a duck in a top hat when her brother picks himself up and takes his first step. Through his familiar, homespun artwork and simple observations, Graham casts a wide net to show how the significance of this moment is mirrored throughout the city as neighbors and strangers spend their own minutes in time. Sometimes in a bird’s-eye view of the bustling city, at other times in tender close-ups, readers see a boy having his shoe tied by his dad, or a soldier saying good-bye to his mother. In a two-page spread, the scene shifts to a hospital where a baby is being born. While young children may not quite connect with the magnitude of life pulsating across the pages, a slightly older crowd will have the sense, even if they can’t put it into words, of both how big yet particular the world is, and what a wondrous thing it is that everyone is a part of an infinite whole. The story comes full circle, with Jodie calling her mother to witness Jonathan’s steps, and that, too, seems just right. - Copyright 2013 Booklist.

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