ALA Booklist (Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2003)

Young Anna tells of the treasures on the nature table in her bedroom and how she acquired certain ones, such as the mouse bones she retrieved from owl pellets and the dead butterflies she and her mother found in the grass after a sudden freeze. Morley's appealing pictures of Anna and her world are full of light, movement, and radiant color. Often the double-page spreads include a split image, with a large scene of Anna at the seashore or in the meadow and a smaller picture in the foreground showing a bone, stone, or other related object on her nature table. The playful way the verse sometimes slips into rhyme makes the story satisfying to read aloud, though a little less convincing as a child's speech. However, Anna's celebration of life and her matter-of-fact acceptance of death in the animal kingdom seem very real, and it's good to see Anna's parents fostering her unsentimental respect for nature. In this picture book, Bunting offers a wholesome antidote to more saccharine treatments of children and the natural world.

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

On a table against the wall in her room, narrator Anna displays "wonders/ of the earth/ and sky and sea"—each treasured as both a marvel of nature and a memento of time spent with people she loves. A spiral shell that "held a mollusk once" reminds her of how her father waded into the ocean to retrieve it, only to get blindsided by a wave. "He disappeared./ We cheered/ when he appeared again/ holding the shell/ above his head." Other items teach Anna about the fragility and interconnectedness of life: a mouse's bones found in an owl pellet, a lizard flattened by a car, butterflies killed by a sudden freeze. Bunting's (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Smoky Night) narrative is bumpy, sometimes rhyming, other times not. She occasionally veers into the maudlin, but also finds eloquence in ostensibly reportorial prose: "I have two dried and dusty nests/ that fell/ one windy night./ I have a shark's tooth/ and a geode,/ cracked across/ so I can see/ the crystal crumbs inside." Debut artist Morley juxtaposes impressionistic close-up portraits of items from the table with realistic, full-page (or larger) backdrops, framed in white, that transport readers to the time of the objects' discovery. The watercolor-and-ink paintings convey a beguiling spontaneity and vivacity, as if they were pages from an artist's sketchbook. With a publication that coincides with nature's annual renewal, this book should provide ample inspiration for readers to venture into the great outdoors and find their own treasures. Ages 5-8. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Apr.)

School Library Journal (Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2003)

PreS-Gr 3 A free-verse account of a child who keeps all of her treasures from nature on a table in her room. "I have a drift of butterflies,/their colors orange bright./We found them in the grass/one night/after a cold strong wind/and sudden freeze/swept them from the trees." She also has a blue jay's feather, the backbone of a garter snake, a seagull's skull, and many other distinctive items. Anna's quiet pleasure in these things and her close family ties are admirable, and the colorful paintings are skillfully executed, with lots of joy and warmth. However, while the story has flashes of Bunting's characteristic charm and a worthwhile message, it lacks dramatic tension. Add it if you have a large collection and/or a ready audience for thoughtful nature books. Otherwise, buy extra copies of Bunting's Butterfly House (Scholastic, 1998) and/or Secret Place (Clarion, 1996), also beautifully illustrated stories revolving around environmental themes. Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL