Tulip Sees America

An inspirational picture book captures a fun-filled drive across the country during which a young man and his dog, Tulip, marvel at the farms in Iowa, the skies in Nebraska, the wind in Wyoming, and other examples of America the beautiful.

Kindergarten-Grade 4?"My parents were homebodies..../But when I grew up,/I knew I was different./I wanted to see America." Thus, the unnamed narrator drives off to see the country, from Ohio to Oregon, accompanied by his dog, Tulip. Rylant's poetic text does not give a tour-guide catalog of sights, but rather rhapsodizes on the salient features of the changing landscape. The images spark an emotional response that lingers in the mind. For example, she describes the ocean in Oregon: "You are on a cliff/and the water is below you/and as far as you can see,/and you think/the earth has dropped/away from you and/you'd better know how to swim." The artwork looks like a mixture of Chagall and American Primitive and supports the dreamlike, out-of-time quality of the narrative. The full-bleed, full-page pictures depict each region and the printed text is incorporated into the overall design. The illustrations, which were produced by scanning oil paintings into a computer for the finishing touches, are rich with the textures of the oils combined with the luminescent color quality of computer graphics. While many libraries may not consider this a necessary purchase, it is an attractive book that aptly conveys that feeling of wonder at discovering new places. It could inspire children to talk or write about places they have seen.?Karen James, Louisville Free Public Library, KY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Rylant (Missing May; Cat Heaven) and Desimini (Love Letters) take to the open road in this picture book scrapbook. A young man who has never ventured beyond his Ohio homeland buys a green Beetle and heads west with his dog, Tulip. They see the farms of Iowa ("Green, green rolling hills and black garden soil all around them"), the "vast and dark and low and ominous" skies in Nebraska and the wide Nevada desert. And once they reach the Oregon coast, they decide to stay. Rylant's own 1993 move to Oregon with her son and two dogs inspired this celebration of the West's natural treasures. Her vibrant descriptions paired with Desimini's velvety paintings will have readers hankering to travel. With the help of computer technology, Desimini creates dark and dreamy colorscapes, dotted with animals, clouds and trees. While her scenery sparkles, Desimini's depiction of the protagonist is inconsistent. In several scenes he appears childlike-much too young to be driving solo cross-country. Readers may also be misled by the book's title, since the tour includes only six of the 50 states (readers miss out on majestic California, for example). All in all, it's still an ardent tribute to a diverse country?and an exhilarating trip. Ages 4-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Inspired by her own journey westward, Rylant puts a young traveler and his dog, Tulip, into a green VW Beetle and sends them from Ohio to Oregon. Each state brings a new wonder: farms in Iowa, skies ``like one great long breath of freedom and air'' in Nebraska, wind in Wyoming, mountains in Colorado, a wide desert in Nevada, a sudden ocean in Oregon. Using computer-manipulated oil paintings, Desimini creates a series of full-bleed, undulant landscapes with the strong shadows and compressed perspectives of dioramas. The title is hyperbolic, but Rylant's poetic language and the art's striking forms and colors communicate equal strength and intensity of feeling. (Picture book. 5-8) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ages 4^-8. Having grown up in Ohio, a young man feels the urge to see more of the country, and he takes his green Beetle and fills it with a few necessities and his dog, Tulip, and drives across America. He loves what he sees: the farms of Iowa, the vast skies of Nebraska, the mountains of Colorado. He ends each description with a refrain: "There is no desert like Nevada's . . . no wind like Wyoming's." But when he gets to Oregon and finds a winding mountain road right next to the ocean, he knows where he wants to stay. Rylant's words, as always, are chosen with warmth and precision, and her fond vision is amply illustrated in the paintings that accompany the text. Using a near-naif style, Desimini has painted flat figures and elongated perspectives that recall both Hopper and Hart Benton, but their saturated colors and sly humor are much more cheerful. There are no books quite like Rylant's, and even those who aren't fans will be quite taken with the bounce and spirit of this one. GraceAnne A. DeCandido