Bound To Stay Bound

Other - 12/09/2024 In lilting words and elegant collage spreads by Caldecott Honoree Archer, three children are shown encountering the varied powers of wind across the seasons. The three light-brown-skinned kids are first seen standing on top of a rise, faces turned up, dark hair blowing sideways. "Sometimes we call out to Wind, ‘How will you blow today?’ " A page turn shows them perched in a pink-blossomed tree: "In Spring, Wind answers with a puff at the petals." And as the kids walk through a pine forest in the rain, three umbrellas glow with color from patterned papers in red, yellow, orange, and blue. In warmer weather on a sandy beach, the children holler, "Can you help us fly our kite?" Fall and winter bring new wonders, including released milkweed down and icy breezes. Fully developed right to the edges, tapestry-like spreads consistently offer new things to find-the interesting shadows of beach umbrellas, a distant house with its windows alight-in this captivating year-long study of an elusive, invisible force. Ages 3-7. (Mar.) - Copyright 2024

School Library Journal - 01/01/2025 PreS-Gr 3—A book that lyrically covers the experience of wind. "How will you blow today?" Archer asks of the wind. Season by season, she takes readers on a journey through encounters with the wind: flying a kite, watching ripples in a pond, chasing dandelion seeds, and jumping in fallen leaves. It's a book that covers how wind is invisible, but its force blows spring petals to the ground. It makes, at times, no sound, but it wrestles with wind chimes in the evening. Archer stays true to her style, shaping a journey through steadfast inquiry and vibrant illustrations, bringing the sensory experience to life. VERDICT A fresh and poetic offering for wind and weather-themed story times. Recommended for all picture book collections.—Jennifer Noonan - Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.