The Lost (and Found) Balloon

May 6, 2013
“Molly O’Doon/ had a balloon/ red and shiny and round,” and she releases it into the sky with a note attached. Evocative illustrations, suggestive of the view from an ascending plane, track the balloon as it floats above motley fields and the brick-red roofs of a housing development, “Each shrinking house/ small like a mouse.” The sun sets, and the balloon drifts over an expanse of water under a full moon, returning with the dawn and settling into the garden of another girl—who happens to be Molly’s next-door neighbor. Jenkins, winner of the 2011 Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories author contest, tells the tale in pedestrian rhyming couplets (“Katie McCloat/ sat down, read the note”), but Bogade (Ben’s Flying Flowers) provides a modicum of magic with her soaring bird’s-eye perspectives and idiosyncratic combinations of negative space and color. After drawing scenery in black line, Bogade tints select details—the scarlet balloon, the brassy gold of church bells, a bluebird amid green leaves—leaving surrounding areas bare. Like the unfinished coloring book it resembles, however, the narrative proves superficial. Ages 4–8.

April 15, 2013
In a pleasing tale by the recipient of the 2011 Cheerios New Author Contest, cheerful Molly releases a balloon and gains a friend. Short rhymes describe the red balloon and how "Molly tied on a note / and set it afloat / with hopes it soon would be found." Text and art capture the growing distance between Molly standing in her yard and the balloon floating higher in the sky: "Close to a cloud. / Sounds not so loud. / Barking dogs hushed. / Honking cars shushed." The aerial perspectives are dizzying, and Bogade uses uncluttered pen-and-ink artwork to best advantage by leaving swathes of white for eyes to rest on, making bright splotches of color pop whether it is rooftops, fields or the balloon itself. The balloon's journey over a body of water lasts a magical two spreads, from dusk and through the moonlit night, until it bobs toward shore at sunrise: "Town getting nearer. / Sounds getting clearer. / Blue bird sings. / Tower bell rings." The excitement and anticipation comes from seeing where the balloon will land after it has traveled such a great distance and who will find it. In a surprising twist, the balloon introduces a new friend much closer than Molly--or readers--might ever have expected. It's an altogether charming book, but children may want to imitate Molly; adult caregivers of those that do should check environmental cautions and state law first. (Language to this effect will be added to the book in subsequent printings.) (Picture book. 3-6)

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June 1, 2013

K-Gr 1-A little girl ties a note to a red balloon and lets it go, hoping that someone will find it and respond. As it sails higher and higher, things on the ground get smaller: "Each shrinking house/small like a mouse./Fields into rugs./Cows into bugs." When the balloon heads for the ground, it is found by another little girl. Upon reading the note, she discovers that the sender lives next door. The two meet and become friends. There is nothing new or fresh about this predictable tale. The lackluster poetry is often forced and the illustrations, which appear to be computer generated, have a greeting-card quality. Strictly additional.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ

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