Bound To Stay Bound

Other - 04/07/2025 The wind blows hard, and two children-one taller, one smaller-pull on their boots. "Now take my hand," one says, "and we’ll go see/ the sea before the storm." Caldecott Medalist Floca, here taking the role of author, employs atmospheric verse to describe the children’s unaccompanied escapade: "We see the waves coming,/ pushed from the sea/ to SMASH/ on the rocks." A neighbor out for a walk suggests that the kids head home, but the two nudge each other forward, returning to a refrain: "And then we ask, is this enough, or do we try for more?" Choosing to go on, they find the streets in town deserted, eerie, gleaming. Hans Christian Andersen Award recipient Smith captures the burgeoning storm’s splendid energy in broad strokes and splashes as the sky suddenly opens up and the children dash for home, braving sheets of rain and tree-bending winds, until they’re met by an adult with a flashlight running toward them: "Home to relief, and to love./ Home to trouble, too!/ Home to forgiveness." The next morning, the children clamber across rocks on the now-clear shore, an adult nearby: "the view across the water is long.// And you and I go on." It’s a thrilling story about how a shared exploit can deepen camaraderie and trust-and a dynamic look at the dual powers of nature and volition unleashed. Characters are portrayed with pink skin. Ages 4-8. Illustrator’s agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Jr./Folio Literary. (July) - Copyright 2025

Booklist - 06/01/2025 *Starred Review* A boy and his little sister venture out into their island town to “see / the sea before the storm”—but before the text even begins, illustrator Smith, wizard that he is, has already conjured the story's stirring emotions through an interior title page heavy with a longing sense of nostalgia and a dedication page filled by darkening gray-blue skies, tilted trees, a fluttering laundry line, and a woman chasing down some garments blown free. As the storm approaches, the siblings watch growing waves crash into the shore; they pass boarded-up homes and various landmarks of their eerily empty town. Between each section of the homey island tour, they pause to consider retreat—but press forward with the refrain “You pull on me, I pull on you, and we decide to go on.” When thunder booms, though, they run. The blotted watercolor and gouache art takes on a diagonal blur as rain torrents muddle every spread, until they finally reach the safety of home and their mother's arms. Floca's poetic text carries all the quiet suspense and crashing weight of an approaching gale, colored by enough loving detail of setting that it finds something powerfully universal in the specific. An oddly moving ode to childhood, home, and sibling bonds, set to the awesome bass line of nature. - Copyright 2025 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 12/12/2025 Gr 1–4—Two siblings decide to go out to look at the ocean before a big storm comes to their community. As the storm approaches, the kids have several opportunities to turn around and go home, but they choose to continue in a game of atmospheric chicken, until the storm finally descends and they are forced to run home, pulling each other along. Smith's roughly rendered artwork is a perfect complement to the vivid figurative language of Floca's book, allowing readers to experience what it would be like to stand by the ocean just before a big storm comes. The book also captures the feeling of safety and well-being of returning to a secure, cozy house. This would be an excellent book to support discussion of figurative language or use as a mentor text for showing readers events rather than telling them about them in text. It would also be a good introduction to storm preparation and safety. VERDICT This exquisite book about a stormy walk is full of vivid language. A must-have for any library's picture book collection—Debbie Tanner - Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.