Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
In my backyard
Paper Engineer: Ron Broda
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 8
Tundra Books, 2007 ISBN: 978-0887767753
It doesn't matter what the season is, if you have a backyard you are sure to find that something is going on out there all the time and that all kinds of creatures are out and about throughout the year and throughout the day. Often the song of a little wren is "the first sign" that spring is one the way. In the pond a toad is singing as it sits on a rock and in the water tadpoles will soon begin developing into young toads. Later in the summer a hummingbird sips nectar from flowers and tends to its babies in a tiny little nest. If you have a compost heap you may be lucky enough to see a mother possum bringing her babies to the bin for a feast one evening. And in the winter you might just see a little mouse scurrying across the snow carrying a red berry in her mouth. She has a nest of babies to care for somewhere under that coverlet of whiteness.
Beautifully illustrated with paper sculptures that are rendered both in colored and in plain white paper, this is a unique book which celebrates the diversity of life that can be found right outside our front doors. Each garden scene is full of creatures of all kinds and one scene is connected to the next. Thus, hidden in the scene featuring a snail, readers can see a small spider weaving its web between a downspout and a flower pot. And on the next page the spider is the main character. In addition to the engaging, often lyrical main text, at the back of the book the author provides further information about each of the featured animals. Here she also provides her readers with information on how to make your backyard more attractive to wild animals of all kinds.
