Starred Review for Publishers Weekly (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Like their previous collaborations, <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">The Great Frog Race and <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Old Elm Speaks, this volume by George and Kiesler is as delicious as a toasted marshmallow treat. George's poems are well crafted, varied and easily accessible. The topics range from a tent-shaped poem about the careful raising of the family's canvas lodging to post-trip unpacking, in which a child tucks away a flannel shirt perfumed in scents of pine, wood fire and forest moss in her "bottom drawer—/ where no one will find it/ and wash away [her] memories." Though Kiesler's human figures are sometimes wooden, she suffuses her acrylic landscapes with light filtered through leaves. A few of the illustrations seem too idyllic and scrubbed (in the "Abandoned Cabin," its "crumbling fireplace" looks newly constructed; in another, the brother's "grubby hands" seem freshly washed). Yet George's poems shine, the images clear and startling. A "panther cloud crosses the sky"; after a storm, a "confetti of birds... dance another rain shower." A concrete poem in the shape of a waning moon is exquisite: "Tipping/ a slender/ silver ear,/ Moon tries/ to pretend/ she isn't/ listening/ to our/ secrets." Readers will definitely want S-mores. Ages 6-10. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Mar.)

School Library Journal Starred Review (Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2001)

K-Gr 4 A young girl savors the sights, sounds, and smells of a family outing. Whether playful or profound, the exquisitely crafted poems reverberate with eloquent yet effortless language, while the radiant acrylic artwork hints at the awe-inspiring mysteries of nature. (July)

Horn Book (Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 2003)

Presented as a journal kept by Seaman, Meriwether Lewis's dog, this first-person account provides a choppy overview of the Lewis and Clark expedition. The writing is weak ("Sacajawea is a mom now"), and the color illustrations have a static quality. The book contains a ribbon bookmark featuring a large cardboard image of Seaman and a recipe for the Native American food pemmican.

Kirkus Reviews

George deftly describes the satisfying sequence of familiar events in a summer camping experience in this collection of 30 related poems perfectly paired once again with Kiesler's inviting oil paintings ( The Great Frog Race and Other Poems , 1998, etc.). The daily rhythms of a camping trip are presented from the "Tent" to exploring an "Abandoned Cabin" to observing "A Doe." Shared common experiences include "Sleeping Bag": "It's so cold outside, I'm getting dressed inside / my sleeping bag. I wriggle, scoootch, scrunch, and jiggle. Flop. / Front flips, back flips—I'm a caterpillar / in a cozy cloth cocoon / that zips." Short pieces like "Mosquito Song" demonstrate pointed wordplay with a witty use of alliteration and onomatopoeia: "Its M eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ! / Mosqu eeeeeeeeeeeeee to! / Is that you , Dinner? / Gr eeeeeeeeee tings." Kiesler expresses the changing vistas of the countryside from the uneasy, dark palette of the double-page spread for "Storm" to the bright, sunshiny view of a field for "Wild Mustard." The changing layout of each page gives a sense of surprise to the most ordinary of events, the words of the concrete poem, "Eavesdropping," "Tipping / a slender / silver ear" placed in the shape of crescent moon, the stanzas of "Flashlight" positioned in the beams of light, to name just a few. Altogether, an engaging trip. (Poetry. 7-10)