Into the Outdoors

August 29, 2011
Like her previous two picture books, Night Lights and Take Me for a Walk!, Gal’s third offering takes particular delight in the pleasures to be had outside, as a family of four packs up its woodie station wagon and literally heads for the hills on a camping trip. The artwork—rough charcoal shapes augmented with digital collages—is gleefully retro in its muddy palette of browns and green, the characters’ vintage outfits (hats for everyone!), and the Mary Blair quality to the friendly wildlife the family meets. The whole project has the feel of a storyboard for a mid-century filmstrip about getting back to nature. It’s also an exercise in language, as Gal uses the journey to contextualize several prepositions: “We pitch our tent among the trees and set off along the hiking trail.” Naturalism isn’t the chief goal (the toddler in the family befriends a smiling bear), yet Gal’s attention to light, especially the way it filters through the trees, and her ability to evoke the serenity of the forest result in an idealized ode to the wild green yonder. Ages 5–9.

January 1, 2012
In this up-with-nature/preposition-learning concept book, a family of four camps in the woods overnight; a good time is had by all. Cheery, relaxed digital-collage and charcoal illustrations contain details of the forest and fields (the toddler showing his teddy bear to a black bear may horrify experienced campers). All of the text's prepositions are in a different-color type for a superfluous educational component.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)