PB Jane Yolen

I have always loved everything by Jane Yolen, and whenever I see a book by her that I haven't read, I will definitely take the time to pick it up.  I always find something intriguing.  I read two this week:

Elsie's Bird by Yolen and David Small (2010) starts sadly when Elsie's mother passes away in 18th century Boston.  Elsie is a happy city girl, but as her father mourns her mother's death, he finds that he needs to leave the city to make a fresh start.  He decides to take Elsie to Nebraska.  Instead of the songs and noises of the city, she must get used to the quiet of the prairie.  It is only when she discovers the sounds of the quiet that she really begins to feel at home.  A sad story for very young readers but still worth reading.  This story might serve as a discussion starter about change or setting.

Yolen also examines change and setting in Where Have the Unicorns Gone?  The focus this time is on the environment and how man has impacted it through the ages, potentially marginalizing species that can't adapt.  The unicorn question is asked throughout the story, and each time, the unicorn seeks out some beautiful landscape that man hasn't yet impacted.  The illustrations are beautiful and majestic, fitting the unicorn theme well.  The language is mature as well...the average picture book does not tend to use "catacombed" or "cataphonetics," but Yolen wanted hard "c" words.  She didn't hesitate.