2 out of 4 stars
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The best children’s books are engaging for the child. They engage their imaginations, their familiar experiences, or their developing minds. These books might teach children lessons about life and growing up. Rebecca David’s book Found by Wings attempts to do all of these things.
When a carriage accident distracts her parents, little Sunni wanders into the woods. Far from being scared, though, she is comforted by the monarch butterflies she finds there. Through the storytelling, the author highlights some basic butterfly facts while discussing important life lessons like finding comfort during scary situations and the importance of not wandering away from one’s parents. Because the author chose a familiar situation - getting lost - she makes the story highly relatable for many children. She also ties in a few practical points: for example, when lost, the best idea is often to stay put until someone comes to find you. For all of these highlights, though, there are a number of areas that could be improved.
One important aspect of a children’s picture book is the illustration. In Found by Wings, the illustrations appear to be watercolor paintings with a muted color palette. Not every page has a facing illustration, but monarch butterflies also decorate the pages that have text. As I read through the book, I did wish that there were more pictures. In particular, I wanted to see a picture of the carriage accident and perhaps an anatomically detailed picture of a butterfly just at the moment when Sunni thinks about how she can recognize some of a butterfly’s main body parts.
The presentation of Rebecca David’s Found by Wings pretty clearly indicates that the book is meant for a very young audience. This becomes concerning, though, when one considers the suitability of the text for this age group. Words like “unbeknownst” do not usually belong in children’s picture books. The structure of the text also could use some editing. The story needs more of an introduction to clarify the setting, and the organization could be improved to make the story easier for young minds to follow. Also, some of the pages have several paragraphs of text. Children often have short attention spans, and especially on pages with no picture, the text needs to be manageable for youngsters. For the benefit of beginning readers, simpler sentence structure and shorter sections of text would be more appropriate. The editing also needs improvement. The first error was on the first page, and there were many more as the book progressed.
Overall, I rate Rebecca David’s children’s book Found by Wings 2 out of 4 stars. There are some great concepts involved, including especially the recognition of why wandering away is unsafe and how to find comfort when in a scary situation. There is a tiny bit of information that might help a child develop an interest in butterflies in a scientific sense. However, these good points are hampered by difficulties. This book definitely needs an editor in order to realize its potential fully.
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Found by Wings
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