Review by Booklist Review
In Central America, a child and her grandmother sit in Granny's garden and watch the many ruby-throated hummingbirds nearby. That evening, the girl is flying home to New York City, while below her plane, a sailor watches a hummingbird sleeping in his boat's rigging. At dawn, it flies away, tiny and fearless, over the Gulf of Mexico. More hummingbirds fly north to the eastern U.S. and parts of southern Canada, closely observed by people along the way. After the birds build nests and raise families, they prepare for their southbound journey that fall. Meanwhile, the girl finds a tiny white eggshell in the park and sends it to Granny. An accomplished science writer for children, Davies contributes a text that weaves strands of story and fact into a satisfying whole. Ray's radiant watercolor-and-pencil artwork creates landscapes that are full of life, yet orderly and graceful. The girl's story creates an engaging element for young children, but the book's text focuses more on the tiny birds and their extraordinary migration. Tucked into spaces within the illustrations, sentences in smaller type provide avian factoids related to the scenes. Lightly combining narrative with relevant information, this beautiful picture book is brimful of quiet charm.--Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3--The book's narrative opens in a garden, as a girl and her grandmother bond while watching and listening to hummingbirds. But the girl must leave for the United States and say goodbye to her grandmother, just as the ruby-throated hummingbirds must say goodbye to Central America and fly north. Factual details about hummingbirds are showcased in bolded text without detracting from the story. Though short, the back matter consists of an informational page, index, and bibliography that supplies additional information. Davies seamlessly weaves facts about hummingbird migration into a fictional narrative, with each aspect of the book enhancing, but never outshining, the other. Ray's bright watercolor illustrations bring out the warmth in the interactions that characters have with one another and with the hummingbirds. Though the girl and her grandmother are almost immediately separated, the hummingbirds' journey from Central America to New York and back again make that great distance seem less vast. Perfect for a read-aloud, this picture book is educational while providing opportunities for readers to connect with a story about human migration and family relationships. VERDICT The book, a colorful blend of fact and fiction, raises the bar for its genre and will leave many readers hopeful to hear the "Tz'unun! Tz'unun!" of hummingbird wings in their own gardens. A wonderful addition to any informational picture book collection.--Lauren Hathaway, University of British Columbia
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Weighing less than three-quarters of an ounce (or, in Daviess spot-on comparison for young readers, less than a nickel), the ruby-throated hummingbird migrates annually between Central and North America, approximately two thousand miles each way. Davies details these journeys within a tale of a young girl who visits her grandmother in Central America and encounters hummingbirds feeding in the garden. Several months later, having returned to New York, the youngster spies the remnants of the nest of one of the avian travelers. Most pages include information about hummingbirds printed in a small typeface, distinguishing expository details from the story narrative. Here readers can discover that the birds lose half their body weight flying across the Gulf of Mexico and that their nests are tiny (another apt comparison: the size of half a walnut shell). Often, illustrations reinforce this information, as when the explanatory text states hummingbirds are insectivores and also consume nectar and we see two women attracting the birds with multiple bug dispensers and bowls of sugar water. Ray employs the jewel tones of the birds and the flowers they feed on (such as scarlet sage and trumpet honeysuckle) to create an airy yet lively backdrop that is as full of motion as the fluttering of a hummingbirds wings. A map shows winter and summer habitats, while an authors note explains how ornithologists track and study hummingbirds. An index and a brief bibliography complete the book. betty carter July/Aug p.145(c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A relationship between a Latina grandmother and her mixed-race granddaughter serves as the frame to depict the ruby-throated hummingbird migration pattern.In Granny's lap, a girl is encouraged to "keep still" as the intergenerational pair awaits the ruby-throated hummingbirds with bowls of water in their hands. But like the granddaughter, the tz'unun"the word for hummingbird in several [Latin American] languages"must soon fly north. Over the next several double-page spreads, readers follow the ruby-throated hummingbird's migration pattern from Central America and Mexico through the United States all the way to Canada. Davies metaphorically reunites the granddaughter and grandmother when "a visitor from Granny's garden" crosses paths with the girl in New York City. Ray provides delicately hashed lines in the illustrations that bring the hummingbirds' erratic flight pattern to life as they travel north. The watercolor palette is injected with vibrancy by the addition of gold ink, mirroring the hummingbirds' flashing feathers in the slants of light. The story is supplemented by notes on different pages with facts about the birds such as their nest size, diet, and flight schedule. In addition, a note about ruby-throated hummingbirds supplies readers with detailed information on how ornithologists study and keep track of these birds.A sweet and endearing feathered migration. (bibliography, index) (Picture book. 5-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
