A Flock of Shoes

March 1, 2011

K-Gr 2-Abby loves her sandals. They not only make heart shapes in the sand and allow the wind to kiss her toes, but they are perfect for running, walking, skipping, and jumping, too. In fact, come fall, she refuses to relinquish them to her mother. Then one afternoon while swinging, Abby's footwear flies off her feet and joins a band of other sandals in the sky, heading south. She misses her sandals but is mollified by the postcards from them and her brand-new boots. By February she begins to love those boots with their white and blue exterior and fuzzy purple trim. All is well until the warm spring day they march off and hop a train filled with boots headed north. As luck would have it, Abby's sandals fly in the same day, grown just wide enough to fit her feet. The drawings are a satisfying mix of color, action, and white space that brings life to the characters and the seasons. The addition of Abby's expressive puppy in nearly every illustration is a nice touch. This amusing tale that finally explains where shoes go in the off season is great fun.-Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2010
Preschool-G At the end of summer, Abby refuses to give up her sandals despite all her mothers reasons for letting them go. But while Abbys playing at the park, swinging higher and higher, her flip-flops slip off her feet and fly away, joining other sandals headed southward in a V formation. At first, she grudgingly puts on boots and wears them all winter, though she imagines her sandals vacationing at the beach and sending her fond postcards. Spring brings two more footwear-related surprises for Abby. Tsiang expresses childlike emotions and thoughts in a simple text that reads aloud well. Washed with cheerful colors, Lengs cartoon-style drawings interpret the story with originality and wit, from the scene where Abby makes snow sandals instead of snowmen to the postcard pictures, in which the two errant flip-flops cavort on a tropical beach. This is possibly the first picture book on shoe migration, an idea that imaginative children will find nearly believable and wholly satisfying.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)