Kate loves science so much she’s determined to breathe fire. Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to ponder the awkward coincidences that propel the plot.Ī fifth grade girl brings her love of chemistry to the school play. Charming vignettes and single- and double-page illustrations create a pastoral world into which the threat of large-scale violence comes as a shock. Meanwhile, Bond’s black-and-white drawings, justly compared to those of Garth Williams, amplify the sense of dissonance. Not the growing sense of family among the animals, the serendipitous intervention of an unknown inhabitant of the barn, nor the convenient discovery of an alternate home. However, nothing can truly compensate for the bland horror of the premise. Their talents and personalities match their species, bringing an element of realism to balance the fantasy elements. They do so by relying on their individual strengths and one another.

This leaves the animals to fend for themselves. Grady, Dewey’s (ever-so-slightly) more principled brother, refuses to go along, but instead of standing his ground, he simply disappears. 8-10)Ī group of talking farm animals catches wind of the farm owner’s intention to burn the barn (with them in it) for insurance money and hatches a plan to flee.īond begins briskly-within the first 10 pages, barn cat Burdock has overheard Dewey Baxter’s nefarious plan, and by, all of the farm animals have been introduced and Burdock is sharing the terrifying news. She is also surrounded by supportive adults, and her cultural heritage, though specified, is given such a low profile that she becomes a sort of everychild, with whom many young readers faced with a similar sense of displacement will identify. Reminiscent of Allen Say’s work for its tone, theme, and neatly drafted, often metaphorical art, this strongly communicates Yoon’s feelings in words and pictures both. It still means Shining Wisdom.” Swiatkowska internalizes Yoon’s adjustment, both by depicting her escape fantasies literally, and by placing figures against expanses of wall that are either empty of decoration, or contain windows opening onto distant, elaborate landscapes. I wanted to fly, fly back to Korea”-and even, after a classmate’s friendly culinary overture, “Cupcake.” Ultimately, she finds her balance again: “I write my name in English now. Instead of writing her own name on her papers at school, Yoon calls herself “Cat,” then “Bird”-“I wanted to be BIRD. An unhappy young immigrant seeks, and at last regains, a sense of self in this atmospheric, expressionistically illustrated episode.

My name is yoon by helen recorvits