Tuesday 11 October 2011

Tell me what you read | Little Friend by Colleen McKeown

A nice, warm and wind-filled picturebook for little people.
This is my review, mitched from the Inis blog (shocking, I know).

"Little Friend is the simplest of stories: a little girl called Laura finds a lone duckling in the grass one day, takes him home to nurse him, befriends him, and finally must let him go join his peers in the wild.

Straightforward and gentle as it is, this tale manages to avoid falling into twee territory. Its strength lies in everything the text does not say but only hints at: the joy of marching through the snow, the duck’s longing, the excitement of first flight, and Laura’s sadness.
All those unstated feelings are wonderfully relayed by the brilliant pencil and crayon illustrations. The broad sweep of landscapes, the constant presence of the wind, and the subtle passage of time infuse great energy to the book and add another layer of emotion."

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