April 19, 2021
Accompanying Wolff’s (What George Forgot) verses about what people need to live, Meganck (The Marvelous Mustard Seed) paints loving, attentive families of varying ages and ethnicities in a bustling city neighborhood. Some are seen enjoying a park fountain whose jets cool hot days. “All we need/ is what falls from above/ to fill up our glass and our bucket and tub”—suspense carries through a spread of children cavorting in the spray until the need is revealed: water. The pattern of the stanza’s omitted last word quickly becomes apparent, inviting readers to guess: “Whether it’s roasted or simmered or stewed,/ All we need...”—families are seen preparing potluck items for a community dinner, from tamales to gyoza—“...is food.” In Wolff’s hymn to resource sharing and community, Meganck paints families living lightly on the earth—cycling, enjoying each other’s children, and sharing food while offering each other emotional support through teaching, listening, and the occasional embrace. Warm, reassuring images throughout show families whose shared participation makes neighborhood ties stronger. Ages 3–6. Author’s agent: Sarah Landis, Sterling Lord Literistic. Illustrator’s agent: Lori Kilkelly, LK Literary.
January 1, 2021
"All we need / is a belly that's filled, / to give us the strength to grow and rebuild." The message that emerges from Wolff's patterned rhyming text is that once our basic needs -- for air, water, education, shelter, food, family and friends -- are met, we can fulfill the need to share with others. Families from different ethnic backgrounds, religious traditions, and configurations are featured in Meganck's summertime-warm watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations. A neighborhood potluck at book's end brings everyone together in a celebration of inclusiveness and community.
(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
Starred review from April 1, 2021
Diverse families consciously enjoy what and whom they depend upon. In a series of spreads that move from natural, outdoor settings to indoor, shared spaces, adults and children appreciate one another as well as the resources that make their bodies, minds, and spirits grow. The first in each pair of spreads describes, without naming, a resource in four and a half lines of rhythmic, rhyming verse ending with "all we need...." The following spread fulfills the promise of the page turn with few, satisfying words ("...is air"). From water and a home to food and loved ones, each pair of spreads honors something precious that might be taken for granted. Children playing and learning in a public park and a parent and children biking home over quite a distance make this not only a facilitated meditation on mindfulness and gratitude, but also a love song to the Earth that supports life. The serene, colorful pictures turn the poetic text into a narrative, as the characters go home, make food, and come together again in a large community gathering once all needs are met, because "the only need left... / ...is to share." The lyrical text is a delight to read aloud, and the layout invites young readers to participate by guessing the word to be found on the next page--and, inevitably, memorizing them after the multiple reads that are bound to happen with this mesmerizing book. All we need...is to read (this book!). (Picture book. 3-8)
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