Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 03/01/2018 K-Gr 3—Like Stead's Ideas Are All Around, which playfully explores the artist's interior life and creative processes, All the Animals Where I Live takes readers for an extended meander around his physical environs with his dog Wednesday. In recording his observations of the natural world, the once-city-dweller Stead introduces readers not only to an array of country critters, but also to his 90-year-old neighbor who shoos a brown bear way from her kitchen window, and regales readers with fond memories of his Grandma Jane, whom he likens to a hummingbird "flitting and buzzing and always busy." Wednesday, also once a city dog, clearly relishes the freedom of exploring off-leash throughout the seasons, greeting sandhill cranes, toads, coyotes, and dragonflies. Wild turkeys, turtles, chipmunks, deer and a snowy owl are among the seasonal visitors that the artist spies. The lovely mixed-media artwork includes oil ink monoprinting from found objects, and drawing with China marker, bamboo calligraphy brushes, and Sumi ink. The animals take center stage with minimally patterned backgrounds suggesting light-filled open fields and lush forests. VERDICT While the quiet, and at times nostalgic, tone of the narrative does not suggest broad child appeal, young artists and nature lovers will find much here to admire and any of the artist's many fans would be happy to peruse these pages.—Luann Toth, School Library Journal - Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 03/01/2018 Glancing out of a window through the eyes of Caldecott medalist Stead is a genuine pleasure. After he moves from the busy city to a red house off a dirt road in the country, he documents animals. Rather than city dogs straining their leashes, he sees wild turkeys, hummingbirds, squirrels, cranes, and even a snowy owl. Only the lady down the road has seen a real bear. He must be content with drawing Frederick, his stuffed bear. The most important animal who lives with him is Wednesday, a dog rescued from the pound in Baltimore. He traces Wednesday’s engaging personality in a variety of doggy poses throughout the seasons: he watches dragonflies and toads, sniffs at a turtle dropped suddenly by an eagle, barks at a coyote in the night, and trots through the wintry landscape. The subdued palette in charcoal, collage, and wood blocks illustrates every double-page spread with realistic details, portraying each animal in the natural landscape. This salute to country living offers up a quiet, gentle world. - Copyright 2018 Booklist.