A lovely and lyrical ode to the migration of the godwits...Inviting and informative with multiple story levels, this title belongs in every collection.
—School Library Journal (starred review)
In her examination of the life of this globe-circling bird, which belongs to the sandpiper family, the artist’s minutely constructed collage spreads look tranquil when viewed from afar but teem with life close up...It’s hard to imagine a more powerful treatment of migration: Baker conveys the strength of the birds and the fragility of their habitat with equal care.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A visually striking account of godwit migration—pair it with Sandra Markle's similar but more concrete The Long, Long Journey (2013), illustrated by Mia Posada.
—Kirkus Reviews
Beautifully wrought in text and art, this picture book offers both an introduction to the migration of godwits as well as story of return and renewal...Baker’s stunning artwork, full to bursting with fascinating, realistically rendered detail, utterly steals the show. An appended author’s note and map discusses the godwits’ unique 7000-mile migration path, and advocates for conservation. Informative and eloquent, this will resonate on many levels.
—Booklist
Known for her detailed, lifelike collage (Home, rev. 3/04; Mirror, rev. 1/11), Baker continues to mesmerize viewers. Meticulous illustrations portray the birds in the air and on the ground, up close and at a distance. Her well-paced, informative text follows one godwit’s migration—flying, resting, eating, and breeding.
—Horn Book
Mixed-media collage, notably delicate and detailed, incorporate natural materials among finely textured cut paper and paint, and their photographic reproduction conveys a sense of depth...the drama of the bird’s arduous migration is fully engaging in its own right.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
With simple, lyrical text and gloriously detailed, gorgeous collages, an Australian-author illustrator tells the amazing true story of the migration of the bartailed godwits, shorebirds that make the longest unbroken journey of any animal in the world, traveling more than 7,000 miles from Alaska to Australia and New Zealand.
—Buffalo News
Baker describes the godwits’ behavior and the habitats along their route north, habitats that are shrinking because of development and urbanization...a reminder that everything on the planet is connected and interdependent.
—Literacy Daily
Beautifully written and lushly illustrated, "Circle" is an astonishing story, a delight for the mind and the eye.
—Reading Eagle (from Kendal Rautzhan)
★ 02/29/2016
“In its lifetime,” writes Baker (Mirror) on the title page, “a godwit will usually fly farther than the distance from the earth to the moon.” In her examination of the life of this globe-circling bird, which belongs to the sandpiper family, the artist’s minutely constructed collage spreads look tranquil when viewed from afar but teem with life close up. She gives white wing patches to one lithe, long-beaked godwit, then places him in a flock so dense that readers can almost hear the wingbeats. A boy in a wheelchair watches them leave the Australian shore through binoculars (“I wish I could fly,” he sighs). Over China, the birds search for a place to rest, but a city has grown up where they hope to feed. The aerial spread of the fast-growing harbor metropolis dazzles. At last the godwits find a muddy beach, then go on to Alaska, courting, breeding, and raising chicks (tragedy strikes, and only one survives) before returning to Australia and the boy, who has graduated to crutches. It’s hard to imagine a more powerful treatment of migration: Baker conveys the strength of the birds and the fragility of their habitat with equal care. Ages 5–8. (May)
★ 02/01/2016
PreS-Gr 2—A lovely and lyrical ode to the migration of the godwits. A boy in bed dreams of flying. He watches from his wheelchair as a flock of godwits begin their northward migration from Australia. Beautifully detailed collages fill the spreads, and the perspectives switch from bird-watcher to bird. Chronicling the 7,000 miles of one of the longest animal migrations, the intricate illustrations and simple text illuminate the arduous journey often made more difficult by human activities. Wispy clouds, floating ice chunks, and wiry foliage all pass beneath the godwits as they near their breeding destination in Alaska, where a hungry fox reduces a pair's four fuzzy chicks to one. As the birds head back to Australia, they pass over dark blue northern waters and blue green tropical seas to the beach where the boy chases his dog, crutches forgotten. An author's note with more information about the migration of godwits and a map are appended. VERDICT Inviting and informative with multiple story levels, this title belongs in every collection.—Frances E. Millhouser, formerly at Fairfax County Public Library, VA
2016-03-02
Baker (Mirror, 2010, etc.) turns her eye to a story that parallels the migration of the godwit with a white, wheelchair-using child who wishes for flight. As the child bird-watches from the shore of a nature reserve, the text narrates the growth and eventual nine-day migration of a godwit and his flock. The author's soothing prose conveys the spirit rather than the specifics of this marathon migration; the copyright page refers readers to three websites for more information, but the points of the birds' route—Alaska and New Zealand—are not mentioned in the text, though they are implied in the illustrations. As the godwits "follow an ancient, invisible pathway," bold, textured collage illustrations give a sweeping bird's-eye view of the world below, from sprawling cities to the slightest footprint in the sand. "The places they remember are gone," but eventually they circle back to the nature reserve, "where mud and sand become sea," where the same child is now chasing a Dalmatian, and underarm crutches lie nearby. In the final illustration, the child, spread-eagled on a bed, imagines soaring with a flock of godwits. The child's condition is unexplained, leaving the child's "flight" open to interpretation. Is it about gaining the ability to walk, or is it about a journey like the godwit's—experiencing transformation over time? A visually striking account of godwit migration—pair it with Sandra Markle's similar but more concrete The Long, Long Journey (2013), illustrated by Mia Posada. (Picture book. 4-9)
