Puma Dreams

July 15, 2019
A young girl is fascinated by pumas, and after months of waiting and watching, she sees a puma near her home. The unnamed narrator of the lyrically told story lives with her grandmother on a remote ranch in an unspecified location with mountains and canyons. The girl is fascinated with puma lore and legends, and her dream is to see a puma, even just once. She uses her allowance money to purchase a salt lick with hopes of luring a puma close enough for observation. After over a year of watching and dreaming, she finally sees a puma through the window as it circles the salt lick. The first-person story is told with evocative descriptions as the girl observes the environment around her with a dreamy, imaginative style enlivened by Gram's pithy country sayings. An oversized format and expansive double-page-spread format showcase the striking, realistic illustrations done in a glowing, golden palette. The accomplished paintings capture the beauty of the natural surroundings and help create a real world for the rather lonely child. The girl and her grandmother present white. An author's note offers more information about pumas as well as puma-conservation organizations, although exactly where pumas can be found in the U.S. is not made clear enough. The unlikely but real danger posed by pumas to humans is also not addressed. A lovely, beautifully illustrated story of a child's dream fulfilled. (Picture book. 4-8)

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August 19, 2019
The girl who narrates this wistful idyll by Johnston (Loving Hands) lives with her grandmother amid rolling grassland. She has long dark hair and a starry-eyed expression, and she dreams of seeing a puma one day. (Her Gram calls it a “long-dream, for it may not ever happen.”) The puma population is dwindling, the girl knows: “Some are hunted down./ Some are forced from the land/ when people move in.” She sinks her allowance into a salt lick; it lures other animals, but not the one she wants to see. The wisdom of her grandmother (“Easy dreams aren’t worth a pin or a pickle”) helps sustain her as she gets a lesson in patient waiting. Johnston’s deliberately paced story foregrounds the sense of time that comes from living in the natural world, where things can take years, not minutes. Each softly tinted, naturalistic spread by LaMarche (A Story for Bear) captures a scene of rare beauty: a misty morning, a snowy dawn. While the text treats habitat loss and extinction, it focuses, too, on the simple joy of encountering an animal in the wild, where it is meant to be. Ages 4–8.

October 1, 2019

K-Gr 3- A farm girl dreams of seeing a puma in the wild. Her gram tells her that this is a "long-dream," since pumas are elusive and their population is dwindling. The girl is determined and makes a plan. She invests her allowance in a salt lick. Months go by; the girl goes about her daily life and waits. Her patience pays off when she finally sees a puma licking her salt lick. The girl thinks he looks like a great golden ghost and she is inspired to pursue a new dream-to preserve and protect wild puma populations. Printed in landscape format, the realistic illustrations of a farmhouse and outdoor vistas are created with a combination of acrylic, pencil, and ink with frame-worthy skill. A soft and natural color palette places readers through the seasons gazing along the long horizon. Gently poetic first-person prose emphasizes the quiet beauty in the every day. An endnote contains information about pumas and a list of organizations dedicated to puma initiatives. VERDICT Budding nature lovers will enjoy this quiet, beautifully illustrated book with a strong conservation message.-Mindy Hiatt, Salt Lake County Library Services

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2019
Grades 1-3 Among the hills where she lives with her grandmother, a young girl has always wanted to see a puma, but, as Gram explains, because of their being hunted or displaced by humans, they're rare. However, having heard stories of sightings, the girl's hopeful. She even sets out a salt lick? I imagine that big cat / slipping through our wheat field / on whisper-feet ?which only attracts other wildlife. Still, she remains vigilant through seasons, until, finally, she spies a puma in the grasses around the salt lick. Though fleeting, the experience inspires her in multiple ways. The girl's eloquent, poetic narrative is reflected in LaMarche's evocative, richly hued, realistic illustrations, softly rendered in acrylics, pencil, and ink, which make equally great work of landscapes, mountain vistas, and close-up portraits of the determined narrator. The lyrical lines and warm scenes combine harmoniously to tell a lovely story that highlights the natural world, while also conveying the resonant power of aspirations. An appended author's note includes puma facts, Johnston's personal puma experiences that inspired the story, and information about some conservation organizations.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)