Charlotte Riley-Webb

Ages 4-8.

In Around Our Way on Neighbors’ Day, a little girl plays games with her friends on a hot summer afternoon. As she makes her way home, she greets her diverse neighbors along the way. Her family then goes out again to celebrate Neighbor’s Day with dancing and family recipe dishes to pass.

Brown’s text is rich with lilting rhymes reminiscent of jump rope songs heard on sidewalks and playgrounds. The catch phrase, “Blue sky, no clouds” repeats throughout the book and starts show more many rhyming segments. Reading the rhythm of the words aloud brings the excitement and energy of Neighbor’s Day to life.

Riley-Webb wields her acrylics for captivating illustrations. On every page, bold, swirling brush strokes denote busy neighbors’ movement and the haze of summer. Readers see one bird’s eye view of the park through a cloud of bubbles floating up to the sky. Another page captures the blurred motion of uplifted arms as drummers play and a joyous crowd salsa dances.

This picture book celebrates the importance and fun of community events where neighbors come together and spend time with one another. Reading this book will encourage children to think about their own neighborhoods and the special events that they take part in. Recommended. show less

Swirling, vivid paintings full of life, movement and color, celebrate a block party and the warmth and excitement of friends and family. I found the rhythm of Brown's text hard to follow - if you're going to use this in a community or party storytime, be sure to rehearse it first to get the lines to flow smoothly

Two words I would use to describe Seed Magic are vibrant and discovery. I chose the word vibrant because the pictures throughout this book are beaming with amazing colors that bounce off the page. The story as well as the garden at the end only work to further the vibrant feel of each page. The author, Jane Buchanan, uses short simple phrases that contrast the detailed and colorful pictures. This contrast made the pictures stand out even more. The other part of this book that I would show more describe as vibrant is Rose, the little girl's, spirit. The way she believes in the seeds and the beauty of gardens is striking to me.
The second word I chose, discovery, was because of the story line. In this book Rose meets the bird man and finds it silly that he loves birds. Rose doesn't think that birds can be beautiful. However, the bird man gives her some seeds and tells her to plan them on her window sill. Rose does as the man says and waits and waits. Nothing is happening and Rose becomes discouraged. However, one day the birds begin to fly in to her window and eat the seeds. All of the birds with their beautiful colors and singing create the most beautiful garden right on Rose's windowsill. This leads Rose to the discovery of beauty and the different ways it can present itself. Rose discovers that even birds in the grey city can be beautiful. show less

Story of a young African-American girl who asks an eccentric elderly African-American man why he feeds pigeons in the park. He comments on their beauty, and gives her seeds that are magic and tells her to place them on the windowsill and they will grow. To her surprise multicolored birds arrive and flutter about the sill creating a vibrato garden of color. The book reads as poetry. The painted illustrations in this book are by Cleveland artist who documents the heritage of African-American show more culture and music by implementing flow and rhythm in her painting strokes, a rhythm similar to the writing style. show less