How Robin Saved Spring - Hardcover

Ouellet, Debbie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805069704 ISBN 13: 9780805069709

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 2009

Synopsis

If Lady Winter has her way, the world will stay covered in blankets of snowy white and icy blue. Sister Spring will slumber forever and the winter will never end. Can Lady Winter really keep spring from coming or is there something the animals might do to help? Led by harbinger Robin, the animals are determined to wake Sister Spring, but what price will they each have to pay?

Through beautiful words and pictures, this enchanting tale about the battle of the seasons highlights one special bird who saves much more than just the day.

About this title

About the Author

DEBBIE OUELLET has had her work published in children’s magazines and journals. This is her first book for young readers. She lives in Loretto, Ontario, Canada.

NICOLETTA CECCOLI is the award-winning illustrator of many books for children, including The Girl in the Castle Inside the Museum. She was awarded the Silver Medal by the Society of Illustrators and won the Andersen Prize, honoring her as the best children’s book illustrator in Italy. She lives in San Marino, Italy.

Reviews

Lady Winter (“A perfect world would be cold and white every day of the year”) knits a magical white blanket to ensure that Sister Spring will never awaken from her seasonal slumber. A troubled Robin calls on his woodland friends to help wake Sister Spring, but Bear, Caterpillar, Maple Tree, Ladybug, and Skunk all fail. Robin finally flies to Mother Sun for some morning light, which awakens Sister Spring, but the closeness to Mother Sun turns Robin’s “plain brown belly into a bright orange-red.” Ceccoli’s romanticized acrylic paintings are not as edgily effective as those in The Girl in the Castle inside the Museum (2008), and the visual characterizations don’t enforce the potential robustness of the story. Still, this attractive book will attract adult readers who might want to include it in seasonal story hours. This original how-and-why story has the repetitive structure of a folktale, although Ouellet’s tale is not based in traditional lore. Preschool-Grade 2. --Janice Del Negro

Edition details

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805069704
• ISBN 13: 9780805069709
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Ceccoli Nicoletta
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32