Review - Kate, Who Tamed the Wind

Kate, Who Tamed the Wind
by Liz Garton Scanlon
illustrated by Lee White
Date: 2018
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: library

Award-winning author Liz Garton Scanlon presents a young, rhythmic read-aloud about a girl who solves a windy problem with an environmentally sound solution: planting trees.

A wild wind blows on the tippy-top of a steep hill, turning everything upside down for the man who lives there. Luckily, Kate comes up with a plan to tame the wind. With an old wheelbarrow full of young trees, she journeys up the steep hill to add a little green to the man's life, and to protect the house from the howling wind. From award-winning author Liz Garton Scanlon and whimsical illustrator Lee White comes a delightfully simple, lyrical story about the important role trees play in our lives, and caring for the world in which we live.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

The premise of this book is great. There's a man who lives on the top of a hill, where it's very windy. He doesn't know what to do, because the wind is wreaking havoc on his house. Kate, a little girl at the bottom, sees the problem and takes a bunch of saplings up the hill and plants them. It's a long-term solution, really, and the book reflects that. As the trees grow, so does Kate (and the man grows older, too). Eventually, the house at the top of the hill is protected by a windbreak of trees, and everyone is happy.

What I don't like about this book is the way it's written. It's in rhyme in places, and it's definitely poetic, but it's so repetitive. I had to keep from grinding my teeth together as I was reading this. I don't know why it bothered me so much. Maybe the repetition made it seem too young. Or maybe it just made it seem too pretentious. The narrative could've been poetic without so much repetition. Here, take a look:

The wind blew until the
shutters banged in the creaky
house on the tip-top of the
steep hill.

The wind blew, the
shutters banged, and
the boards bent.

The wind blew, the shutters
banged, the boards bent, the
table tipped, and the tea spilled.

The tea spilled and the bread
broke on the tippy table in the
creaky house at the tip-top of
the steep hill.

It was bad enough reading this the first time; I would hate to have to read it over and over again to a child!

The illustrations are decent, but nothing really memorable. I did like seeing how the passage of time was depicted with the characters growing and changing.

Overall, this is a decent children's picture book with a nice environmental message. If you don't mind the repetition in the narrative, you might enjoy this one more than I did.

Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.17 out of 5