School Library Journal Starred Review (Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

K-Gr 2 Samson the woolly mammoth is content with the company of his flowers. When a little red bird flies by, asking for some flowers for a friend whose favorite color is yellow, Samson wonders what having a pal would be like. As summer turns to winter, Samson, concerned about the bird's fate, decides that "it is better to walk than to worry" and sets out to find her. In the meantime he meets a mouse who is also in search of a friend, and together they rescue the bird, who has become trapped in the ice. The storm finally passes as the three newly united creatures trade stories of their adventures. Simple language is suitable for either read-alouds or independent reading. Although some text blocks are within illustrations, most are placed on light backgrounds, making all but one easy to read. As in the best picture books, the narrative is told in words and pictures. Two wordless spreads show the bird's predicament, while a third contrasts these starry white and blue winter scenes with a bright yellow summer one. Pencil-line animals stand out against highly textured backgrounds, and color is essential to the plot, as readers realize that the mouse—whose favorite color is yellow—is the friend for whom the bird originally sought flowers. VERDICT This sweet tale of friendship deserves a place in every collection.— Jill Ratzan, Congregation Kol Emet, Yardley, PA

ALA Booklist (Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

As a heavy snowstorm descends, a sweet and gentle woolly mammoth named Samson is very concerned about a small red bird he recently befriended over a mutual love of dandelions. Like the author's Caldecott-­winning A Sick Day for Amos McGee (2010), this picture book features a quiet type of thoughtfulness that makes for a pleasurable, low-key read. Children will be riveted, though, by Samson's journey to locate the feathered fellow. Will he find the bird before the snow becomes too dangerous? A mouse he meets on his journey into an increasingly bluish-gray world is eager to help. Stead has tackled the illustrations without his partner and wife, Erin, this time around, and the pictures have a sturdy feel, grounded by the mastodon's large, reddish-brown figure. The bird is omnipresent in Samson's thoughts, and his beakful of yellow flowers provides bright bursts of color. As Samson continues his journey, readers will perceive that he's also moving toward a happy chance for friendship. A lovely tale for a peaceful storytime.

Horn Book

Introspective woolly mammoth Samson waits for a new friend in his dandelion patch. After sharing his flowers with a little red bird, Samson falls asleep. When a snowstorm hits, worried Samson searches for the bird and encounters a mouse who's also looking for her. Lush mixed-media illustrations fill nearly every page with richly textured landscapes in a comforting tale packed with symbolism and beauty.

Kirkus Reviews

A depiction of deliberate acts of kindness.Stead's return to familiar themes of friendship and camaraderie is refreshed by the introduction of Samson, a wooly mammoth who loves his patch of dandelions but isn't miserly with them. When a red bird (reminiscent of the title character in Stead's Hello, My Name Is Ruby, 2013, in size if not color) requests some to give to a friend having a bad day, he gives them gladly. But as the bird flies away, Samson wistfully wonders what it'd be like to have a friend. He falls asleep and dreams of yellow, and here Stead treats readers to the first of three wordless spreads punctuating the narrative—this one a saturated, bright yellow with starburst prints of dandelion blossoms. Samson awakens to a blizzard, worries about the red bird, and goes off to find her. "It is better to walk than to worry," he thinks as he trudges through the snow. He finds a mouse and lifts him up onto his furry back to stay warm and snug. The mouse, too, is searching for someone, who turns out to be the small red bird. Their reunion is a joyful one, complete with a gift of dandelions to the mouse, and then Samson brings them to a cave's dry safety to wait out the storm, together. A story warm in both palette and feeling. (Picture book. 3-5)

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

Stead (Ideas Are All Around) returns to themes he-s made his own: friendship, acceptance, and love for small, ordinary objects that most people overlook. Together, his observations form a gentle theology. Samson is a mammoth who wears an expression of furry concern. He-s first seen weeding his dandelion patch. (Aren-t dandelions weeds? Not to Samson.) A red bird appears: -Would you mind if I took some flowers for a friend?- the bird asks. -He is having a bad day.- Samson hears this wistfully: -He wondered what it would be like to have a friend.- When a blizzard descends, Samson thinks immediately of the bird, his concern etched in a wordless vision of the tiny animal sprawled in the snow, and sets out to rescue her. Samson trudges over broad, snowy plains, eventually finding a mouse-the very friend, it emerges, for whom the flowers were intended. Together they find the bird, not a moment too soon. The contrast between the very large and the very small contributes to the story-s magic, and so does Samson, a hero who is tender, patient, and loyal. Ages 4-8. Agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management. (Sept.)