Little Loon Finds His Voice

In this endear­ing pic­ture book, Lit­tle Loon desires noth­ing more than to emu­late Papa’s long and strong calls—a tremo­lo, wail, hoot, and yodel—whereas Lit­tle Loon only makes peeps and squeaks. … Lyri­cal prose fol­lows Lit­tle Loon’s growth: “Until one day, as the sun tipped over the trees, Lit­tle Loon danced upon the water, flapped his wings, and rose through the crisp air.” Ono­matopoeia is con­veyed in engag­ing typog­ra­phy, while Shklovsky con­tributes sweet­ly expres­sive, intri­cate water­col­or and pen­cil illus­tra­tions in a soft palette, employ­ing cap­ti­vat­ing angles and dynam­ic spreads to hold read­ers’ atten­tion. This illu­mi­nat­ing tale simul­ta­ne­ous­ly serves as a primer on the loon and a sat­is­fy­ing, well-paced chron­i­cle of progress. (Pub­lish­ers Week­ly, starred review)