From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2—In this spirited bit of backyard psychodrama, a kitten, a baby blue jay, squirrels, and a girl on a bicycle each balance in uncertainty and expectation on the brink of new freedoms. The baby jay wants to fly but fears leaving the nest; the kitten longs to explore the big world outside the house; the girl teeters on her new bike. Each tastes the brash possibilities of liberation. Each narrowly escapes disaster: the kitten is chased up a tree; the jay tumbles out of the nest; the girl takes a spill. But in this backyard, there are literal and figurative safety nets in the encouraging hands of mothers, both human and avian. So the day ends safely in the deep satisfactions of newfound accomplishments, with the baby squirrel vowing to leave the nest tomorrow. The brief, clear text is in speech balloons, allowing the characters in the performance to speak for themselves. The jay's repeated refrain, "But I will never leave this nest!" gives a humorous cadence to the tale. The warm palette and the energetic line of the paint-and-ink illustrations convey both the thrill of curiosity and the certain security of home. Heartening as well as thematically and artistically assured.—
Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Old Greenwich, CT Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
High drama in the backyard ensues when Mama Jay leaves, instructing Baby Jay to stay in the nest. Warning her kitten to remain in the house, a girl eagerly mounts her new bike, aware that she must be cautious. All three impetuous young creatures, however, test their boundaries, with Baby Jay falling from the nest as the curious kitten makes an escape and the reckless bike rider loses her balance. A mischievous squirrel joins the fray. As the trio teeters on the edge of disaster, parents arrive to save the situation, and all return home with a hint of more adventure tomorrow. Lively activity occurs in the air, in the tree, and down on the ground; to see all the hubbub, the cleverly designed book must sometimes be turned vertically. Using dialogue bubbles to reveal conversations and thoughts, Gerstein's realistic illustrations set the backyard stage and choreograph the frenzied acts of the drama, adding touches of humor without diminishing the tension. Good for listeners and beginning readers alike.
Linda PerkinsCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
