Author: DC Swain
Publisher: Amazon
Rating: WORTHY!
Illustrated by Iuliana Iordaschescu (no website found).
Today is evidently DC Swain day on my blog as I review two children's books both by the same author and artist. This is another fun story from DC Swain, and once again it's admirably-illustrated by the wonderfully-named Iuliana Iordaschescu, but this time the illustrations are in a different style, which I found refreshing. In this case they look like they're done with colorful crayons, which is a fun way to make the pictures look, for a kid's story. In the other book I review today, the images are all smooth colors with the look of fresh paint.
I think children's stories which ask a question in the title are some of the most stimulating because they immediately make a child think. What is the answer? How high will that kite fly? What happens if you let go of the string? In Austin, Texas, there's an annual kite-flying weekend in a park down town, and even if you're not into kites (and expensive bad food and watery sodas), it makes for an interesting and fun couple of hours. Kids delight in it, of course.
In this case, unlike in the blue ball story, we actually get children putting in an appearance. The girl flying the kite bravely lets it loose and it soars, flying over her school, over the bridge, over the mountains, and out to sea. Where will it end up? I think this is the kite which scared the people on the Mary Celeste so badly that they abandoned ship, thereby creating a mystery! What does your kid think happened to the kite?
The beauty of these books is that they really don't end when the book does, because the question goes on. That kite, just like that bouncing ball in the other story, is out there somewhere, and you can have a lot of fun with your kids in speculation over where it might have gone or what it's doing now. My guess is that it ultimately ended up in the rings around Saturn, blown there by solar winds along with odd socks and lost luggage, but it's only a guess, understand....
I recommend this book.
