Owen at the Park

August 1, 2019

PreS-Gr 2-Little Owen assists his dad with landscaping work at Berlin's Tiergarten park. Together they perform the mundane labor of sweeping the paths, raking, and trimming the enormous lawns, Owen's dad walking on crutches when not riding the lawn mower. Once a week, however, there's a special job that Owen both loves and fears due to his shyness. Ritchie does not reveal the task at first, merely showing Owen approaching and warning park goers, initially in "friendly and firm" tones, then with increasing urgency as time of the event approaches, building up to "shouting...startl[ing] a baby, a sleeping dog, than a flock of starlings." When the park empties, Owen joyously turns on the tap, letting powerful sprinkler jets drench the park and "anybody who hadn't listened," this grand event inspired by the author's own experience in Tiergarten. There is something reminiscent of Bob Graham's urban lyricism in Ritchie's line pencil and ink illustrations and overall tone of the story. Colored in Photoshop, full spreads dazzle with verdant foliage, but include many small details of other park goers, as well as offering glimpses of city buildings in the distance. VERDICT Small in scope but evocative in impact, this gentle tale will have readers cheering at Owen's success and yearn for a park adventure of their own.-Yelena Voysey, formerly at Pickering Educational Library, Boston University

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2019
Owen lovingly helps his dad care for a beautiful city park. In an author's note, Ritchie explains that he visited Berlin's Tiergarten on a summer day and witnessed the turning on of the sprinklers, an event that "sent [everyone in the park] running in all directions." He reimagines this day through the eyes of young Owen, who usually sweeps or rakes leaves while his dad drives a large industrial lawn mower. "But once a week, there was a job that Owen loved. And this morning, he was going to do it by himself." The job involves notifying all those enjoying the park--sunbathers, picnickers, strollers, runners, and others--that the sprinklers are about to be turned on. "For a shy boy like Owen, the first part of the job was difficult." Then there's the task he enjoys most: opening the tap to allow water to thoroughly drench the grass, the trees, the flowers, and "anybody who hadn't listened to Owen." Although the story is slight, the charming full-bleed, double-page-spread line-and-color illustrations are gloriously green, full of diverse children and adults enjoying a warm day and myriad details to delight close readers. Owen and his dad present as white, and his dad uses crutches in a positive representation of a person with a disability just doing his job. It's hard to imagine the child who won't envy Owen this job. (Picture book. 4-7)

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.