School Library Journal (October 2011)
A child invites a scarecrow to come in from the snow, and the scarecrow asks if he can bring a mouse with him. A butterfly, a robin, and other woodland creatures soon join the group until the house is full of friends all snuggled and warm around the fireplace.
Patten tells this simple story of generosity and kindness with delightful rhyme, meter, and
alliteration. The poem begs to be read aloud, lilting and dancing on the tongue: “A
squirrel scampered down from a sycamore tree,/‘I’ll bring you some nuts, if you’ll shelter
me.’” Children will enjoy joining in at the end of each stanza when the growing list of visitors is repeated. The text is printed in a large, easy-to-read font on a cream-colored background and surrounded by Bayley’s colored pencil and crayon illustrations. The art is meticulously crafted, with attention given to every hair and whisker. The style of the pictures is similar to Bayley’s illustrations for Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book (Candlewick, 2005), but they are done on a larger scale and in slightly softer hues. The scarecrow is a little cartoonish, but the animals look realistic and soft enough to pet. A lovely book about sharing and compassion.
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