Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 10/01/2023 Robert Frost’s famous quote perfectly applies to Fong’s story: “The best way out is always through.” A small puffin dawdles on a seashore rock and suddenly discovers he’s been left behind by his colony. As a thick fog moves in, the bird takes flight in search of his companions. Through the metaphoric tale, the narrator explains to readers there are options when one finds oneself in a fog: either stay where you are and wait for it to pass or venture through it and find that “a bigger world has always been there, waiting for you.” The enveloping fog can be symbolic for many things, including illness, grief, indecision, and loneliness. Arresting artwork in muted watercolors reveals the billowing fog gradually moving in and the little seabird’s confusion when it covers everything around him. Objects take on ominous shapes as nothing looks familiar in the dimness. The youngest listeners will empathize with the lost bird trying to find its way home, while older readers, perhaps through discussion with an adult, may better understand Fong’s symbolic message. - Copyright 2023 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 10/27/2023 PreS-Gr 1—A young puffin is left behind by his flock and has to venture through the fog to find them. Along the way the fog gets thicker and thicker as he encounters crabs and a somewhat threatening walrus. Once the fog lifts, the puffin finds his flock on a flower-covered cliff overlooking the sea. A young boy and a female caretaker are seen getting binoculars with a puffin-covered rock in the middle of the sea visible outside their window, and they are on the rock with the puffin flock on the last page. Fong (A Spark in the Dark) combines lyrical prose with muted watercolor to evoke the feeling of being in a fog (both physically and metaphorically). The youngest listeners will relate to the puffin's confusion as he searches for his group through the fog and young elementary children and their caregivers will be able to discuss the symbolism of the fog for loneliness, sadness, illness, etc. VERDICT A short, beautiful tale about getting through the hard times of life that will be best appreciated in a context of SEL discussions, or through one-on-one conversations between children and their caregivers.—Carrie Voliva - Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.