Review by Booklist Review
When Charlie visits his busy grandparents on their farm each summer, he spends his days by himself, playing along the stream, catching tadpoles, and dropping stones off the metal bridge into the water below. He's lonely, but it's fun when he discovers that striking the bridge's railing with a large stone makes it ring like a big, loud bell. Every time, he hears a quieter echo of the sound. And sometimes, he hears another, distant BONG, like a response from someone down the valley. Although Charlie doesn't discover who's making the distant sound, the last double-page spread reveals a second boy with a stick, a jar of tadpoles, and a stone, hoping to meet his fellow bridge bell ringer next summer. Written with well-chosen words by America's thirteenth poet laureate, the narrative unfolds at a comfortably easygoing pace that lets listeners feel both Charlie's loneliness and his pleasure in discovering a mystery, if not its solution. Root's sunlit watercolor-and-gouache paintings capture the warmth of those summer days and the beauty of the setting. A quiet pleasure.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This warm, golden-tinged story from the duo behind Bag in the Wind (2010) moves slowly through a summer vacation as Charlie, staying with his grandparents for two weeks, passes the time by exploring outside-"Anything was better than sitting in the house waiting for something interesting to happen." He catches tadpoles, prods baby turtles, and discovers a big metal bridge over a stream that offers new amusements. He pushes stones over the side, "ker-ploosh, ker-ploosh, ker-ploosh," and discovers that if he hits the bridge with a stone, it resounds satisfyingly ("He could feel it ringing right up through his shoes") and echoes in the distance. Sometimes there's a second sound, an answering sound, which suggests that there's someone out there banging back. How? Kooser doesn't supply any miracles; instead, he holds out the possibility of a mysterious friendship in a place Charlie hadn't thought to find it. Root's watercolor and gouache landscapes reveal beauty in the woods and water that surround Charlie's grandparents' house, and he and Kooser succeed in making them grow as dear to readers as they do to Charlie. Ages 6-9. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A lonely boy finds but never meets a kindred spirit in this summer reverie. For two weeks every summer, Charlie is dropped off at his grandparents' farmhouse, while his parents vacation without him. The blond, white boy occupies his time wandering in nearby woods and along the stream. Thus he spends his days, whacking weeds with his special weed-whacking stick and dropping stones in the water from an old bridge. The action picks up when Charlie discovers that when he bangs on the bridge's metal rail with a stone, the whole bridge rings with a deep bong. The bigger the rock, the deeper and louder the sound, like "a bell, a really big bell like one in a church tower." The sound echoes down the valleythen a second sound returns from the distance. Could there be someone on another bridge communicating with him? Ending on a predictable hopeful note, the omniscient narrator lets readers know that perhaps there will be a friend for next summer's visit. Root has created a rural landscape in watercolor-and-gouache paintings in a palette of avocado and ochre that captures a feeling of heat and stillness. In one illustration, Charlie is depicted holding a tablet, his face lit with its glow, but his days are otherwise tech-free. It's a curious evocation of summer boredom, appealing yet alien. A bucolic story with more adult than child appeal. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
