Available:*
Item Barcode | Collection | Call Number | Status | Item Holds |
---|---|---|---|---|
33607002402686 | Picture Books | BIRDSALL | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
When Flora and her pesky little brother, Crispin, are whisked away by a swirling and swooping wind, she gets the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to give her brother away. With tempting offers from a dragonfly, the man in the moon, and even the wind itself, she will find it difficult to choose. But Flora would do anything to get rid of Crispin, wouldn't she?
Jeanne Birdsall's utterly charming picture book takes flight in Matt Phelan's twisting, twirling watercolors, brimming with wit and whimsy.
Author Notes
Jeanne Birdsall was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1951. Before becoming a children's author, she worked as a photographer. Some of her photographs are included in the permanent collections of museums, including the Smithsonian and the Philadelphia Art Museum. She didn't start writing until she was forty-one years old. Her first book, The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy, was published in 2005. Her novels about the Penderwick family have collected several honors, including the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. She also writes picture books for younger children.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-When Flora's younger brother spills her paints, their mother orders them both outside even though the autumn wind is strong and might blow them away. Luckily Flora wears her "super-special, heavy-duty red boots," but Crispin's purple boots are ordinary. When the triple-strength wind lifts him up into the air, Flora kicks off her boots and sails up in the sky to retrieve him. A dragonfly, a sparrow, a rainbow, an eagle, and a cloud all ask to keep Crispin, but she says, "He's my brother and I'm taking him home." Each one replies with the cryptic phrase, "If the wind lets you." The lonely man in the moon and the wind also ask for the child, but Flora is determined. Accepting her change of heart, the wind blows them down to earth. Birdsall's first picture book is a flight of fancy reconciling a sister to her innocently irritating little brother. Phelan uses ink, watercolor, and pastels for their airy adventure, tossing and tumbling them through a series of encounters that reveal Flora's changing feelings. This gem of a book will resonate with older siblings everywhere.-Mary Jean Smith, Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Birdsall's (The Penderwicks) crisp and delightful first picture book shares the virtues of her successful middle-grade novels: believable characters, a tightly constructed story line, and a nod to past children's literature-here, to the no-nonsense magic of the Edwardians. Big sister Flora must kick off her cherished "super-special heavy-duty red boots" to be borne aloft so she can rescue her brother, Crispin, when the wind blows him away. They meet a cloud, a sparrow, and other characters, all of whom make the same request: "Will you give me that little boy?" Although Crispin has spilled Flora's paints, and the creatures seem to know that she sometimes wishes to be rid of him, the encounters only strengthen Flora's resolve to bring Crispin home. "My mother wouldn't like it if I lost him," she says. Phelan's (The Storm in the Barn) rosy-cheeked Flora and dumplinglike Crispin float idyllically all the way to the moon. Yet the story contains the occasional whiff of menace ("If the wind lets you," each creature replies when Flora says she'll be taking him home). Never mind-the danger is no match for Flora. Ages 5-8. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved