From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4–Unbeknownst to one another, two boys living in distant places share a common bond in their affection for the small brown wood thrush that migrates between their countries each year. The quiet, two-part story with its conservation message begins with an unnamed boy who "lived at the edge of a hemlock woods." Each day in April he watches the world turn green and listens for the thrush's song that announces its arrival. He persuades his father not to clear trees for a new cornfield so that the bird might still have its seasonal home. Ray's reverential text is set on creamy yellow pages facing broadly painted oil scenes deeply saturated with golds and browns. The colors echo the tones of the bird but seem a rather confusing choice for the northeastern United States spring and summer setting of the first portion of the story. In the "damp forest" in Latin America where the bird migrates, a Spanish-speaking boy expresses fondness for the small creature and convinces adults not to cut down its trees. Ray's concluding note blends comments on her personal observations of the thrush, its migratory behavior, and the necessity of greater conservation efforts. Blurred images of people and places do little to augment the vague representations of them in the text, but the simple scheme and worthwhile lessons may be useful in some educational settings.
–Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
K-Gr. 3. This begins on a North American farm, where a boy convinces his father not to clear the hemlock woods for a cornfield, since that is where a thrush lives each spring and summer. In May, the bird returns to the hemlocks and sings until fall, when it flies away. In a country to the south, another boy awaits the thrush and convinces his father not to harvest the trees where the bird lives. The thrush returns, sings until spring, then flies northward. Simplicity and dignity are the hallmarks of both text and illustrations. The story is well structured and the language precise, though children who do not speak Spanish may wish for a guide to pronouncing and translating the two lines of dialogue written in Spanish. Well composed, beautifully lit, and impressionistic in style, Sylvada's oil paintings are seen to best advantage at a little distance. A fine choice for reading aloud, this book is natural for classroom units on birds, migration, and the conservation of wildlife habitat.
Carolyn PhelanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
