Bookverdict.com

Gr 2–5—Staake's ability to digitally compose and contrast shapes for a pleasing geometric balance, aesthetic effect, and narrative purpose has never been stronger than in this wordless title about a heroic bird. Readers follow its flight past a New York City skyline filled with cones, pyramids, and rectangular prisms. Vertical lines are punctuated with stylized circular trees, heads, iris shots, clocks, etc. The sky and bird are indeed blue, but the lonely boy with the large, round head is dark gray; shades of gray compr...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

From its elegant, innovative title sequence to its bittersweet conclusion, this picture book is a feast for the observant eye. Except for some signage, it's nearly wordless; in the title spread, a variant of the spare jacket art serves as a shadowed billboard in a gray-toned cityscape facing a dedication (to John James Audubon) against pure sky blue, thus setting up the dialogue between those tones that will parallel and reinforce the whole story. In the end, that hopeful blue will triumph, but not unt...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

An affecting story, evocatively and clearly told through illustration, with characters displaying an impressive range of emotions. Bob Staake’s deceptively simple artwork is striking and well designed—shading and details are subtle, rewarding viewers who linger over the ...Log In or Sign Up to Read More