All the Animals Where I Live

February 15, 2018
A careful catalog of thoughts about living in the country.Author/illustrator Stead tells readers he used to live in the city but now lives in the country, and this picture book is a somewhat free-association observation of that life. Nostalgic reminiscences tell readers of his "Grandma Jane," who gave him Frederick, a stuffed bear he still has, knitted a blanket decorated with chickens, and, Stead says, would be a hummingbird if she had been an animal (a handy device for the illustrations). These thinly form the connective tissue of the rest of the narrative, as Stead shares his observations of the nature outside his door. Deer eat apples (his dog, Wednesday, chases them away), cranes rattle, an eagle drops a turtle, chipmunks live in a stump, and a coyote howls. The story's problem is not its construction--which is careful--and certainly any attention paid to the natural world is time well spent for young readers. But nostalgia is not something many picture-book readers generally engage in, nor is neutral observation, so it's difficult to see how effectively readers will connect. The illustrations are well-drawn and well-designed, but they are executed with a loose, sketchy technique and a thin, pale palette that, paired with the narrative's delicate style, dilute rather than strengthen the story's overall construction. More of an artist's sketchbook musings than a story for children. (Picture book. 5-9)

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Starred review from December 18, 2017
In the meditative manner of his Ideas Are All Around, Caldecott-winner Stead looks at the animals in his neighborhood, and at his own life. He recalls the only bear he’s ever met, a stuffed bear named Frederick (“My Grandma Jane gave me Frederick when I was three years old”). He remembers Grandma Jane’s house, which had a room that “always smelled like maple syrup.” He examines the creatures he sees, and the changing seasons (“Summer comes and goes. The wind knocks the apples to the ground”). Soon, there’s “nothing but snow. And the smell of maple syrup.” This quiet closing line evokes Grandma Jane’s love and the way it follows him into adulthood; if she were a hummingbird, he muses earlier in the book, “she would fly to where I live now.” Stead’s thoughts wander, and so do his drawings. His dog’s whiskers and mild gaze are captured with scribbly charcoal lines; blades of grass behind a cricket under the full moon are brushed in unerring ink strokes. It’s a journey with an artist who sees the eternal in the everyday. Ages 4–8. Agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management.

March 1, 2018

K-Gr 3-Like Stead's Ideas Are All Around, which playfully explores the artist's interior life and creative processes, All the Animals Where I Live takes readers for an extended meander around his physical environs with his dog Wednesday. In recording his observations of the natural world, the once-city-dweller Stead introduces readers not only to an array of country critters, but also to his 90-year-old neighbor who shoos a brown bear way from her kitchen window, and regales readers with fond memories of his Grandma Jane, whom he likens to a hummingbird "flitting and buzzing and always busy." Wednesday, also once a city dog, clearly relishes the freedom of exploring off-leash throughout the seasons, greeting sandhill cranes, toads, coyotes, and dragonflies. Wild turkeys, turtles, chipmunks, deer and a snowy owl are among the seasonal visitors that the artist spies. The lovely mixed-media artwork includes oil ink monoprinting from found objects, and drawing with China marker, bamboo calligraphy brushes, and Sumi ink. The animals take center stage with minimally patterned backgrounds suggesting light-filled open fields and lush forests. VERDICT While the quiet, and at times nostalgic, tone of the narrative does not suggest broad child appeal, young artists and nature lovers will find much here to admire and any of the artist's many fans would be happy to peruse these pages.-Luann Toth, School Library Journal

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2018
Preschool-G Glancing out of a window through the eyes of Caldecott medalist Stead is a genuine pleasure. After he moves from the busy city to a red house off a dirt road in the country, he documents animals. Rather than city dogs straining their leashes, he sees wild turkeys, hummingbirds, squirrels, cranes, and even a snowy owl. Only the lady down the road has seen a real bear. He must be content with drawing Frederick, his stuffed bear. The most important animal who lives with him is Wednesday, a dog rescued from the pound in Baltimore. He traces Wednesday's engaging personality in a variety of doggy poses throughout the seasons: he watches dragonflies and toads, sniffs at a turtle dropped suddenly by an eagle, barks at a coyote in the night, and trots through the wintry landscape. The subdued palette in charcoal, collage, and wood blocks illustrates every double-page spread with realistic details, portraying each animal in the natural landscape. This salute to country living offers up a quiet, gentle world.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)