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May 11, 2012

Perfect Picture Book Friday - The Way Home

Wow!  What a week it has been!

Joanna's book Snow Games was published, as was Miranda's book Fly With Kai.  Ruth has an agent - woo-hoo! - and I have joined twitter!

(OK.  So maybe that last part isn't in quite the same category of awesomeness.  But it gave me a good excuse to mention how happy I am for my friends :)  Feel free to hop over and do the happy dance with them and buy their books but then please come back for PPBF! :))

(And please stay tuned for a few important announcements after the picture book, including the April Pitch Winner!)

Now, at first glance, this book might not seem to have anything to do with spring or Mother's Day.  That is because it is about geese migrating in the fall.  But Canada Geese mate for life, which is kind of peripherally related to Mother's Day, and although they fly south in the fall, they come back in the spring.  And although I usually like to tease you about the endings so you'll read the book, I'm going to tell this one so you get it :)


The Way Home
Written & Illustrated By: Nan Parson Rossiter
Dutton Children's Books, 1999
Suitable For: ages 5-9

Themes/Topics: animals, seasons, migration, helping others, kindness, responsibility

Opening: "It was late in the October afternoon when Samuel and his father finished the day's chores at the farm and set out for a walk with Ben, their yellow Lab. The sun was already behind the hills, but they had just enough time to walk around the pond before it got dark."

Brief Synopsis:  On their walk, Samuel finds an injured goose, and he and his father take her back to the farm, hoping she will heal.  But even if she does, will she be strong enough to make the long flight south for the winter?  And will she and her mate make it in time?

Links To Resources:  National Geographic Creature Feature: Canada Geese, Kidzone - Canada Geese, Kid Video - Canada Geese, Canada Goose Coloring Page.  This story is a nice opening to discussion about disposing of trash responsibly, caring for animals, and allowing wild animals to be free.

Why I Like This Book:  Although this isn't a true story, it almost could be.  An animal injured because of human carelessness is helped back to health by a kind, responsible family.  But they don't try to keep her. When she's well, they let her go back to her wild life, even though they are sad to see her go and will miss her.  Although the book's ending would most probably not happen in real life, it is a lovely ending that brings the story full circle for child readers and will leave them feeling happy and satisfied.  The geese return to the pond in the spring, and Ben finds them, complete with a brand new family of goslings (that's the marginally Mother's Day part :))  The art is painted in the warm reds and golds of autumn - very appealing.  And the longer text makes it a satisfying read for older children or children with a longer attention span.

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

And now, I am pleased to announce that the winner of the April Pitch Pick, whose pitch will be sent to editor Erin Molta for review and comment, is none other than the fabulous Rebecca with her pitch for Broomstick Rodeo!  Congratulations, Rebecca!  And congratulations and thank you to all our brave pitchers - I wish you could all win!

Before we all go off to read all the other PPBs and cruise on into the weekend, let me remind you that the Birthday Contest is just over a week away (which I hope means everyone is writing busily!)

Also!!!  Phyllis terrorized had a fabulous visit to Italy, and if you haven't had a chance to see it, it's a must read!  Hop on over to Renee's at NoWaterRiver!  You haven't lived until you've seen Phyllis as Juliet :)

PPBF bloggers, please leave your post-specific links below.

And Happy Mother's Day to all you moms, grandmoms, step-moms, new moms, moms-to-be, like-moms, etc. out there.  These are for you :)
because you make the world a better place :)



44 comments:

  1. Congrats to Joanna, Miranda, Ruth, and Rebecca...and good for you for joining Twitter, Susanna! I haven't braved the twittersphere yet, maybe one day! I'll have to check out the Birthday Contest...I've been a bit behind in the blogging world, lately...Thanks also for the heads up about The Way Home...looks like a great choice for springtime..we have lots of Canada Geese around here...they are quite terrifyingly territorial during spring time!

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  2. The book does sound like it could be real. Now, I'm interested in how this ends. Congrats all around. Happy Mother's Day to you and all the moms (I love your list. I was wondering how to phrase the "like moms" ladies.)

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  3. Congrats to Rebecca...I absolutely LOVED your pitch...can't wait to read the book when it is published. :)
    Congrats also to you, Susanna, on joining the little birdies that go tweet, tweet!
    And thank you...I noticed that at the bottom of the page listing the Perfect Picture Books you have also listed the books under the contributor's link...that is lovely of you to do that. :)
    And more congratulations to Joanna, Miranda and Ruth...jobs well done!!!!
    Susanna...great book choice...the bond that geese form as couples is truly inspiring.
    I also have to apologize to everyone...I didn't visit ANY PPBF posts last week...and my son flies in from Chicago tomorrow and we are going fishing for the weekend (weather is supposed to be yucky and rainy and cold)...so I don't think I will have the opportunity until sometime next week...but I PROMISE to read and comment. :)

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  4. Congratulations to Joanna, Miranda and Ruth! So much good news this week. And congratulations to you, Susanna, for braving Twitter. I haven't gathered the courage yet--or the know how. Thank you so much for this opportunity to have my pitch put forward to my peers and to Erin Molta. I appreciate all the kind and helpful comments!

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  5. Congratulations to Joanna, Miranda and Ruth. I only knew about Joanna, how exciting! I must catch up with Phyllis in Italia too! Lovely pick today Susanna and Happy Mother's Day for Sunday. Happy tweeting x

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  6. Thank you so much for the shout out and somehow I had missed Ruth's news, which is splendiferous!!

    Congratulations to Rebecca and really all four of you!

    This sounds so much my kind of story, Susanna, and I love the autumn tones used on the front cover.

    I keep forgetting it's mother's day and I am sure it's freudian that I have a book with a father focus ;-) But have a wonderful day all you Moms!

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  7. You're SO welcome :) I just saw Ruth's news last night, so it might be pretty new. This is a really sweet story! And that's so funny that you have a father book this week :) can't wait to see what it is!

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  8. Thanks, Catherine! Happy Mom's Day to you to!!! And you will LOVE Phyllis's visit to Italy! Wait until you see her driving the chariot....

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  9. Congratulations to you, Rebecca! :) I do not feel at all brave about twitter - so far I've barely managed to do anything :) - but I am trying to learn.... which could take years... :)

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  10. Thanks Vivian, and don't worry - we can all only do what we can do! :) Have a wonderful mother's day with your son! :)

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  11. The ending is given away in the "Why I Like This Book" section, Stacy (so you don't have to linger in suspense :)) Have a wonderful mother's day with your little cutie :)

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  12. I thought I was the last person on earth to be joining twitter, but you are at least the 3rd other person to tell me you're not on it yet, so I feel better about the fact that I'm not being very fast to figure it out! :) We have a lot of geese too, and they ARE terrifyingly territorial! There's a pair that nests just down the road from us every spring, and I have to make sure not to walk the dogs that way for a few weeks or the dogs and the geese will take each other on every day! And my dogs are not small!

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  13. Congrats Ms. Colby, Miss Marple, Ruth and Miranda! Great pick Ms. Susanna (Poppins ;) ) Leonard Hill (I still remember...)! It sounds like it has a great theme/topic! I think it's great that the dad and Samuel help the goose! :) The cover illustration looks nice!

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  14. Congrats to all of you with books out and agents and to Rebecca for your pitch! How great must it be to see all of your work moving on to next steps.
    Susanna, what a great book you've chosen. Any story showing human compassion for animals and helping to keep them in the wild is valuable. Happy Mother's Day everyone!

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  15. Congrats to all you ladies! Lovely book choice, Susanna. It sounds like a wonderful story and I love the rich art. Happy Mother's Day to all!

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  16. Penny KlostermannMay 11, 2012 at 7:57 AM

    What awesome news for Joanna, Miranda and Ruth :-)

    A BIG congratulations to Rebecca for winning the opportunity to have Erin Molta review your pitch!!!

    The book sounds wonderful! Since I had my recent experience with the ducks (Mr. and Mrs. Quackers) who "took up" in my back yard, I am very interested in reading it. Wouldn't you like to be a goose sometimes? They get to migrate to nice weather for all seasons! I think I would like that. On top of that, they get to fly without a plane. I have always wanted to do that.

    Happy Mother's Day to all!

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  17. Penny KlostermannMay 11, 2012 at 8:00 AM

    Oh...and I highly recommend reading about Phyllis's adventure in Italy. Renee's writing is just a delight and I was completely entertained as she told about Phyllis's visit.

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  18. Oh, I read the ending. I like to see the combination of the words and the illustrations to see how an ending takes place. :) Cutie is up early this morning, I suspect we'll have a fun day today.

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  19. I lost track of your ducks! Did they hatch?

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  20. My cuties were all early birds :) Enjoy your day! It's finally not raining here and it's so beautiful! :)













    Stacy S. Jensen (unregistered) wrote, in response to Susanna Leonard Hill:

    Oh, I read the ending. I like to see the combination of the words and the illustrations to see how an ending takes place. :) Cutie is up early this morning, I suspect we'll have a fun day today.

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  21. Thanks, Tracy! And Happy Mom's Day to you too! :)

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  22. Publishers, agents, pitches...even Twitter: there are so many winners this week. Congrats everyone! This book looks beautiful, Susanna. I just picked up last week's recommendation from the library and am excited to read it.

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  23. I think you'd like this one, Erik. It has more text than a lot of picture books, so it's more suitable for older kids. Thank you for remembering my magical-ness :)

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  24. I already can't remember what it was :) (JK) Hope you like it - let me know what you think!

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  25. Penny KlostermannMay 11, 2012 at 9:42 AM

    No. After 18 days of setting, Mrs. Quackers disappeared. I believe something happened to her. I called the zoo, but they said the eggs had gone too long without her and would be bad. I was going to let them have them if they thought another duck would sit on them or if they had an incubator. We are so sad! No ducklings :-(

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  26. Oh! That IS sad! :(














    Penny Klostermann (unregistered) wrote, in response to Susanna Leonard Hill:

    No. After 18 days of setting, Mrs. Quackers disappeared. I believe something happened to her. I called the zoo, but they said the eggs had gone too long without her and would be bad. I was going to let them have them if they thought another duck would sit on them or if they had an incubator. We are so sad! No ducklings :-(

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  27. Congrats to Joanna, Ruth and Miranda! So proud of you! I'll click on those links in just a sec.

    Thanks for the flowers, Susanna. I'm afraid that's all I'll probably get because I already got a card from one son and the other MAY call me but lives too far away to visit and flowers aren't in his budget.

    The geese book sounds lovely and I'll take note of the title and author to take it out of the library next time I visit.

    OH yeah! congrats to Rebecca, too, for her pitch.

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  28. Having just helped some stranded wildlife (bunnies) recently, I think my kids would like to read this book. :-)

    Congrats to our 12x friends on their successes! So exciting!

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  29. Three cheers to Joanna, Miranda and Ruth!

    Hip! Hip! Hooray!

    Enjoyed the PPBF choice. A very nice one to take into Mother's Day weekend.

    Happy Mother's Day to the moms, grandmas and even the aunts and guardians that step up. Hey you single dads, here's a happy, happy to you too for doing double duty :-)

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  30. Good point, Angela! Thanks for mentioning :)

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  31. Oh, yes, Julie! Your kids would probably find special meaning in it!

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  32. If any of mine remember it will be a miracle, Clar :) Enjoy your day!

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  33. Susannna, love your selection. The illustrations look rich and inviting. Like the story line. Reminds me of the Disney movie about the little girl who cared for a Canadian Goose and her hatchlings. She flies a glider to get them to follow her and fly south. I really like stories about migration! Thanks for sharing.
    Congratulations to Joanna, Jennifer, Ruth and Rebecca!

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  34. Wow, it was a big week, congratulations to everyone with exciting news!

    This book looks lovely! I have one daughter in particular who is fascinated with birds and I think we will have to pick this one up. And I LOVE the ending. Thanks for this recommendation, Susanna!

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  35. I hope you guys like it! And thanks for the marathon book recs - they look good!

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  36. What a wonderful book! Thanks so much for sharing!

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  37. Don't you just love a week of good news!? Congrats to everyone, and Happy Mother's Day to you Susanna!

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  38. Congratulations to Rebecca.

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  39. What a wonderful-sounding story! And who says the ending is improbable? With all the beautiful true stories about the bond between human and animal (the tale of the lion who recognised his saviour many years later, and the man who trained a flock of geese to fly and migrate come to mind), that may well happen!

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  40. It seems reasonable to me, too, J.C.! The reviews seemed doubtful, but what do they know? :)

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  41. I DO! And thank you, Sharon, to you too if applicable :)

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