Wings

by Cheryl B. Klein, Tomie dePaola (Illustrator)

Overview

Debut picture book author Cheryl B. Klein and Caldecott Honor winner Tomie dePaola sweetly capture a baby bird’s journey to first flight.

Wings!
Clings.
Flings...

With a cleverly simple rhyme and playful, vibrant artwork, Cheryl B. Klein and Tomie dePaola lovingly paint the picture of a baby bird’s first flight—overcoming stings and dings along the way to soar triumphantly.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534405103
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	03/05/2019
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	1.40(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	BR-999L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Cheryl B. Klein is the author of The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults. Her late grandfather was a professor of children’s literature, and he organized an annual literary festival that once hosted Tomie dePaola! Cheryl grew up in a small town called Peculiar, Missouri, and now lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she works as an editor of children’s and young adult books. Wings is her first picture book. Visit her online at CherylKlein.com and on social media as @chavelaque.

Tomie dePaola (1934–2020) was the beloved author and/or illustrator of more than 270 books for young readers, including the children’s classic Strega Nona. He was the recipient of the Newbery Honor, Caldecott Honor, and the 2011 Children’s Literature Legacy Award for “significant and lasting contribution to children’s literature.” A native of Connecticut, Mr. dePaola studied at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and spent much of his life in New London, New Hampshire. Visit his work online at Tomie.com.

Editorial Reviews

* "Klein's clever text offers just enough structure to keep the narrative going, while dePaola's collage and mixed-media illustrations fill in additional details. Sunny backgrounds (in pastel shades of yellow, orange, pink, purple, and green) offer pleasing contrasts to the birds and their surroundings. Reflective of the text, the artwork is uncluttered, focusing on the new fledgling and his immediate environment. The bird's eyes change from spread to spread, revealing his emotional status at every turn. Perfect for toddler storytimes, one-on-one sharing, or early emergent readers, this one sings to young and old alike. More, please?"

starred review Booklist

* "Beautifully extending the words’ clever minimalism, the simple, subtly dimensional shapes and lush, translucent colorations (the nest itself is a panoply of purples, blues and browns) makes this simple story soar."

Publisher's Weekly - starred review

"dePaola’s bright-hue collage illustrations are fresh, airy, and thoroughly captivating. The artwork conveys and enriches the succinct story with eye-catching action and playful humor....Mesmerized youngsters will breathlessly follow each up and down."

February 2019 - School Library Journal

2019-01-28

In a narrative told with just 12 rhyming words and dePaola's bright collages, a fledgling takes its first flight.

"Wings!" the text proclaims as the chubby pink bird stretches its pinions. But: "Clings," it continues as the little bird looks down, claws gripping the nest. The bird "flings" itself out, then tumbles and falls into a puddle ("stings"), "wrings" itself dry, inspects its bruises (or "dings"), gazes at some "things" (a snail and some worms), one of which it resolves to "bring" back to the nest. It "springs" back into the air, "sings" in triumph, flies in "rings" through the air, and "zings" with its nest mates up to two parent birds. While it's a complete arc, the book feels more like a stunt than a story. Limiting the text to one-syllable "ing" words results in the not-really-apropos "stings" when the bird crash-lands, the at-first-inscrutable "dings" (children and adults alike will wonder where the dinging sound is coming from before the adult readers recall its alternate meaning), and the flabby "things." DePaola's illustrations too often fail to pick up the slack: The bird shakes the water off rather than "wring[ing]" itself dry; depicting the singular conjugation "sings" are the three nest mates with beaks open and the protagonist, its beak clamped shut on a worm—just who is singing?

An artful curiosity and perhaps a challenge for writing units, but not a great picture book. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews