In the Wind

by Elizabeth Spurr, Manelle Oliphant (Illustrator)

Overview

Simple and evocative language and charming illustrations describe a girl's experience on a windy day.

In this gently rhyming board book, a young girl makes, flies, and loses her kite on a windy day. But when she returns home, something special is waiting for her.

Elizabeth Spurr and Manelle Oliphant together create a perfect sit-in-your-lap reading experience for toddlers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781561458547
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	03/01/2016
Series:	In the Weather
Pages:	22
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 6.40(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD250L (what's this?)
Age Range:	1 - 3 Years

About the Author

Elizabeth Spurr began publishing a neighborhood newspaper at age ten and received a degree in journalism from the University of Southern California. She was a newspaper editor before she began writing children's books. She died in 2020.

Manelle Oliphant received a degree in illustration from Brigham Young University-Idaho and has created artwork for picture books, chapter books, theater posters, magazine articles, and games. She lives in Utah.

Editorial Reviews

02/15/2016
The duo behind In the Garden and other board books begins a weather-themed series about an unnamed girl with dark brown skin and curly hair that, in this book, is being tossed every which way by the wind. The story focuses on the girl’s kite-flying excursion in the park, which starts out well but takes a turn: “Kite tail catches/ on a tree./ Yank the string./ Kite breaks free!” Spurr’s rhymes pare down the story to just the essentials, giving Oliphant room to draw out the story’s emotional moments in watercolors that also emphasize the wind’s sheer tree-bending force. Ages 1–3. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"A gentle outing for children who are ready for stories of everyday life rather than just objects to name."—Kirkus Reviews

"The soft, painterly illustrations transport readers to that blustery day in the park, right up to the beautiful sunset, and able communicate that girl's emotional experience."—The Horn Book Guide

From the Publisher

2016-03-02
A brief rhyming board book for toddlers. Spurr's earlier board books (In the Garden and At the Beach, both 2012; In the Woods, 2013) featured an adventuresome little boy. Her new slice-of-life story stars an equally joyful little girl who takes pleasure in flying a new kite while not venturing far off the walkway. Oliphant's expressive and light-filled watercolors clearly depict the child's emotions—eager excitement on the way to the park, delight at the kite's flight in the wind, shock when the kite breaks free, dejection, and finally relief and amazement. The rhymes work, though uneven syllable counts in some stanzas interrupt the smooth flow of the verse. The illustrations depict the child with her mass of windblown curls, brown skin, and pronounced facial features as African-American. Her guardian (presumably her mother) is also brown-skinned. It is refreshing to see an African-American family settled comfortably in a suburban setting with single-family homes and a park where the family dog does not need to be leashed. A gentle outing for children who are ready for stories of everyday life rather than just objects to name. (Board book. 2-4)

Kirkus Reviews