Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
French author-artist Félix explores not just the advent of spring but shapes, colors, and the interplay between positive and negative space. The poetic, if occasionally esoteric, text begins by claiming, "All you need for apples are circles and the color red." This is proven true with a page turn, as two die-cut circles fill with the red background from the preceding page (a few green leaves and stems complete the effect). A large die-cut rectangle combines with a stack of smaller rectangles to form a ladder, while a cutout circle transforms a red oval and three triangles into a robin with outstretched wings. While the writing may keep some readers at arm's length, it's a striking example of how overlaying simple geometric shapes can lead to some remarkable visual transformations. Ages 5-8. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3-Using bold, colorful die-cut pages and large, clean shapes, this work moves through the seasons via the simple story of a girl with an apple tree in her yard. The apples grow and are harvested and enjoyed all winter long. The girl loves her tree and cares for the robins that nest there. Through the use of skillfully placed geometric cut-outs, she describes how everyday objects can be visually created with paper and color. Circles make apples, rectangles make a ladder, and triangles and parallelograms make a birdhouse! While this offering will expertly show children the beauty of manipulating shapes, older readers will marvel at the illusion created by color, negative space, shape, and size. American readers might be puzzled to see the robin's brown speckled egg, but the note on the title pages says that the book is about the European robins that live in Félix's garden in France. VERDICT The simplicity of this book is brilliant and refreshing; a useful option for art classrooms.-Amy Shepherd, St. Anne's Episcopal School, Middleton, DE c Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
In this cozy import, inventively placed cutouts on alternate pages turn geometric abstractions into apples, birds, a birdhouse, and other outdoorsy sights. "All you need for apples are circles and the color red." The transformations of color and space as the pages turn are consistently surprising: three simple white circles on a red field become autumn apples high on a leafy branch; a line of five short rectangles opposite one long vertical one assembles itself into a ladder; robins move into a new birdhouse until a winter storm arrives with a jagged bolt of lightning and a blast of wind to blow it down. But with a basket and a hammer, "I'll climb the ladder and hang the birdhouse and take the apples in to eat." Views through a window of a robin floating over a snowy landscape and, later, a close-up of "baby robins, and apple flowers" in spring are only slightly less minimal than the terse text or the rest of the art. Readers will marvel at the way Felix plays with shape and color, turning seemingly arbitrary arrangements of forms and angles into recognizable representations. This very simple seasonal turn invites viewers to look afresh at shapes and colors and changes. (Picture book. 3-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
