Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

In this picture book based on a true story, a father and daughter pay homage to the valley that will be flooded when a dam under construction is completed.Early one morning, Kathryn, a young girl, is woken by her father and told, "Bring your fiddle." They are visiting the valley that will soon be flooded when the Kielder Dam in Northumberland, England, is finished. In each empty house in the abandoned valley, Kathryn plays her fiddle while her father sings, as they remember and commemorate the music and the life that the houses have held. Author Almond's narrative is quietly spare as it both reinforces and references illustrator Pinfold's detailed, majestic illustrations—reminiscent of Andrew Wyeth's work in both palette and grace. When the narrative says, "This was covered over. / This was drowned," the small spot illustrations opposite, in a somber palette, create a sense of time, movement, and loss. And when, with the flick of the phrase, "The lake is beautiful" concludes the sequence, the narrative and illustrative tones change. Now the page turn reveals a majestic wordless double-page spread of the created lake, painted in soft blues and greens, and ensuing illustrations show people boating, swimming, and playing on the lakeshore.With its every detail—its masterful illustrations, its landscape format, and the elegant text that offers readers a way to see the promise of new life from what has been destroyed—this book triumphs. (Picture book. 4-10)

ALA Booklist (Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

This takes the true story of the Kielder Dam in Northumberland and imbues it with music and a touch of mysticism. The dam was constructed in 1981 in a valley where there were farms, houses, a school. When the dam was finished, the valley was to be flooded. Almond's story begins as a father and daughter walk the valley one last time, remembering the pipers, singers, and dance parties that once filled the area with soaring sounds. The daughter has her violin, the father his voice, and together they enter abandoned homes to play and sing one last time, with birds, trees, and wisps of ghosts listening in. Pinfold's impressive artwork, sometimes full page, but often blocks of scenes covering spreads, serves as sturdy counterpoint to Almond's lyrical text. Particularly arresting are the 10 dark squares and rectangles that show the water covering all that's been before. Yet the promise of what comes next appears with the turn of a page, as people enjoy all the lake and its shore have to offer. A powerful piece of remembrance.

Horn Book (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)

Two bears "who hate to share" fight over a pair of undies (leaving one bare). A pattern is established in the rhyming text: items are presented to animals, but there are always more animals than items, leaving one animal upset. The goofy situations are made even goofier through Lichtenheld's digitally colored illustrations, which are crowded on the smaller pages of this board book edition.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

In this picture book based on a true story, a father and daughter pay homage to the valley that will be flooded when a dam under construction is completed.Early one morning, Kathryn, a young girl, is woken by her father and told, "Bring your fiddle." They are visiting the valley that will soon be flooded when the Kielder Dam in Northumberland, England, is finished. In each empty house in the abandoned valley, Kathryn plays her fiddle while her father sings, as they remember and commemorate the music and the life that the houses have held. Author Almond's narrative is quietly spare as it both reinforces and references illustrator Pinfold's detailed, majestic illustrations—reminiscent of Andrew Wyeth's work in both palette and grace. When the narrative says, "This was covered over. / This was drowned," the small spot illustrations opposite, in a somber palette, create a sense of time, movement, and loss. And when, with the flick of the phrase, "The lake is beautiful" concludes the sequence, the narrative and illustrative tones change. Now the page turn reveals a majestic wordless double-page spread of the created lake, painted in soft blues and greens, and ensuing illustrations show people boating, swimming, and playing on the lakeshore.With its every detail—its masterful illustrations, its landscape format, and the elegant text that offers readers a way to see the promise of new life from what has been destroyed—this book triumphs. (Picture book. 4-10)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In lilting prose, Andersen Medalist Almond (Skellig) begins with a father who wakes his daughter at dawn: -Bring your fiddle,- he tells her. The dam that will flood their valley in the north of England is almost done. The buildings are empty, their inhabitants rehoused. The father pulls the boarded door off a deserted stone cottage, and they enter. -Now play,- he tells his daughter. -Play for all that are gone/ and for all that are still to come.- Without condemning the dam (one day, the inhabitants will play by the lake it forms), Almond recounts the way one family memorializes a cherished musical landscape with the loveliest thing they know. Chilly, windswept spreads by Pinfold (Black Dog) keep to slate grays, yellow browns, and stark light. Vignettes in which a tiny boat is carried higher and higher, above the roof of a submerged house, accompany the valley-s transformation (-The dam was sealed. The water rose. This disappeared...-). With riveting language and moody art, this true story will evoke awe and reverence of place for even very young readers. Ages 5-9. (Sept.)

School Library Journal (Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

Gr 2-5 Set in Northumberland, England, this is a quiet, understated tale about a boarded-up town before it's covered by flood water from a newly built dam. Almond tells of a father and daughter venturing out across a valley one last time in the dim light of dawn. Pinfold's pen, charcoal, and pastel scenes spread darkly across wide pages showing the broad valley, the dam's curving structure, and the two figures entering the first house and making music and dancing in the dark, empty rooms. Several pages group many small scenes. The father reminds the girl of his and her own past visits here for dances and parties and songs by famous musicians. "Now play. Play for all that are gone and for all that are to come." Finally, on the new lake front "The music rises../It continues./We hear it in the birds/and in the waves/and in the leaves/and in the grass." It's a haunting tale of loss ending in renewal as people come to the created lake for recreation. The subdued, somber tone of the text and pictures will elude many picture book readers. Almond's end note on the true story offers satisfying closure. VERDICT This hints at a ghostly tale that could make nice material for oral storytelling and shared reading with some older children. It might also be fun to use in music, natural science, and local history classes. Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston