Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 11/01/2019 *Starred Review* Featuring spare, simply rendered prose and illuminated by bright, lovely art, this endearing picture book follows a beloved farm truck over the years, alongside the experiences of the daughter of the farm family. “On a small farm, an old truck worked hard,” the story opens, as a Black family loads up the cheery red truck with produce on a spring morning and unpacks empty bushels as fall rolls in. Nightfall brings sleep and dreams, as the truck and the girl embark on fanciful adventures together, exploring ocean, sky, and beyond. However, gradually, the truck falls into disrepair, and the detailed illustrations progressively show time passing—snowy bare-branch trees bloom in spring; the girl grows taller; the barn fades from red to sandy brown. Eventually, “on a small farm, a new farmer worked hard,” and readers see the girl, now an adult, working the farm independently—and successfully restoring the truck. Then, recalling the opening scene, the Pumphreys depict the truck again being filled with produce by the woman, alongside her own daughter. The blocky, bright, folk art–style illustrations, composed of prints made from handmade stamps, judiciously use color and composition to deepen and extend the narrative, emphasizing both a sense of change as well as continuity and interconnectedness. This affectionate, pithy, and eloquent homage to farm life—and, quietly, Black families running farms, a rare sight in picture books—is uncommonly charming and rewards repeat readings. - Copyright 2019 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 12/01/2019 PreS-Gr 1—The Pumphrey brothers crafted more than 250 individual stamps to create splendid retro, full-bleed illustrations to accompany the saga of a farm truck's life. The red pickup is a mainstay in the family, as a young girl helps her parents with crops and critters. When the vehicle is no longer reparable, it sits abandoned near her bedroom window. She dreams of it converting into a tow for her submarine, a helicopter, or taking her to outer space. The girl grows up as the book progresses. The truck is covered by snow, then foliage, then disappears into long grasses. Many seasons later, the young woman restores the truck to assist her own running of the farm. VERDICT The simple text in this gentle chronicle of years blazes with the power of family, determination, and perseverance.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA - Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.