In the Red Canoe

August 29, 2016
Davidson and Bifano make their picture book debuts with a quiet account of a girl’s day on the lake with her grandfather. The girl narrates in sturdy rhyming verse (“We don’t say much—we mostly look./ He shows me everything./ The watery world goes sliding by./ Our paddles dip and swing”), describing their run-ins with beavers, “schools of fishy fry,” ducklings with legs like motorboats, and other creatures. Bifano portrays the girl as a tomboyish type, eager to chase frogs down a “secret, muddy beach,” but also content to rest against Grandpa’s knees as swallows dart overhead. Painted in gouache, the scenes have the feeling of stills taken from a lushly rendered animated film, and Bifano pays careful attention to the changing quality of the light as day gives way to evening. For his part, Grandpa remains a silent, almost stoic presence, but Bifano’s paintings give him a kindness that’s cemented in a closing scene of him carrying the sleeping girl to their lakeside cabin beneath a starry sky. A warm story of intergenerational companionship and nature’s everyday delights. Ages 4–8.

September 1, 2016

PreS-Gr 2-A girl and her grandfather greet the magic of nature in the bow of their red canoe in this delicate and elegant tale. The story moves forward with rhythm that echoes the noise of a paddled canoe, with vivid similes (green lily pads like floating hearts), melodic alliteration (a slippery silver prize), and rhyming quatrains. Readers are introduced to different animals, like the loon and osprey. Bifano's full-bleed gouache illustrations are vivid but also mirror the gentleness of the text with soft colors and flowing lines. Her use of a variety of perspectives (looking upward from underwater, floating alongside lily pads, flying in the claws of a rising osprey) add to the book's magical and dreamlike qualities, and her depictions of the girl and her grandfather evoke a sweetness expressed by the text. VERDICT A beautiful introduction to nature that will succeed in storytimes and one-on-one readings alike.-Laura Lintz, Henrietta Public Library, Rochester, NY

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

A young girl enjoys outings with her grandfather, canoeing in calm waters.In rhyming quatrains, Davidson celebrates the pleasures of boating on a north woods lake: the quiet, the wildlife--tiny fish, beavers, ducks, frogs, and dragonflies--and the starlight in both sky and water at night. They watch an osprey catch a fish and swallows dancing at sunset. They hear "a loon's wild call." Quiet, reflective, and steadily paced, this reads aloud well. The rhymes are smooth (with one slant exception) and the rhythm steady, with a nice surprise at the end. Bilfano's nostalgic gouache paintings fill each spread. They show the canoe and its pale-skinned occupants from a wide variety of angles--even from underwater. She closes in on water lilies and wildlife and pulls back to show the landscape. Unfortunately, a striking close-up of the oddly patterned osprey shows her gripping its fish in a way ospreys typically do not: these fish hawks carry their prey facing forward, not sideways. Readers may also wonder at the roaring fire and the steaming caldron that appears to be a fixture of a woodland beach. Adults will be happy to see that both paddlers wear securely buckled life jackets while in the boat. A pleasant, peaceful reminder of the wonders that can be found in the natural world, just right for bedtime. (Picture book. 3-6) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

August 1, 2016
A young girl enjoys outings with her grandfather, canoeing in calm waters.In rhyming quatrains, Davidson celebrates the pleasures of boating on a north woods lake: the quiet, the wildlifetiny fish, beavers, ducks, frogs, and dragonfliesand the starlight in both sky and water at night. They watch an osprey catch a fish and swallows dancing at sunset. They hear a loons wild call. Quiet, reflective, and steadily paced, this reads aloud well. The rhymes are smooth (with one slant exception) and the rhythm steady, with a nice surprise at the end. Bilfano's nostalgic gouache paintings fill each spread. They show the canoe and its pale-skinned occupants from a wide variety of angleseven from underwater. She closes in on water lilies and wildlife and pulls back to show the landscape. Unfortunately, a striking close-up of the oddly patterned osprey shows her gripping its fish in a way ospreys typically do not: these fish hawks carry their prey facing forward, not sideways. Readers may also wonder at the roaring fire and the steaming caldron that appears to be a fixture of a woodland beach. Adults will be happy to see that both paddlers wear securely buckled life jackets while in the boat. A pleasant, peaceful reminder of the wonders that can be found in the natural world, just right for bedtime. (Picture book. 3-6)

COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 15, 2019
Preschool-G While visiting her grandparents at their woodland cabin, a young girl and her grandfather spend a pleasant day together in a red canoe. We don't say much?we mostly look. / He shows me everything. / The watery world goes sliding by. / Our paddles dip and swing. She and her grandpa go exploring on the water, and everything they observe is described in rhyming couplets that scan well. The two encounter a variety of living creatures in, on, or above the surface of the lake, including fish, beavers, frogs, swallows, ducklings, and dragonflies. Double-page richly hued gouache paintings reach from margin to margin and feature differing perspectives: underwater, a bird's-eye view. They spend time on land as the girl chases a frog and the pair enjoy a campfire on the lakeshore. The sky darkens and the full moon and stars shine, signaling the end of a perfect day spent in natural surroundings. The two make lasting memories in this quietly satisfying portrayal of a day spent together on the lake.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)