Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 06/12/2026 PreS-Gr 3—A young girl, with light skin and curly blonde hair, and her father explore the many different agricultural offerings at the state fair in this Level 1 reader from the "I Can Read: My Community" series. Brightly colored illustrations depict characters with a range of ages, skin colors, genders, and body types as they introduce the girl to various forms of farming (the only person with a visible disability is a background character). Fun facts about plants and animals, as well as dynamic movement in the pictures, keep the book from feeling formulaic, while simple sentences and repetitive structures make the text accessible for early readers. Abundant artwork by Echeverri, gentle and colorful, breathes life into the text as the girl milks a cow, bites an apple fresh from the orchard, and excitedly accepts a blue ribbon for her homegrown tomato. VERDICT Purchase for libraries where early readers circulate well.—Lisa Bintrim - Copyright 2026 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.