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Summary
Summary
Feel the anticipation -- and share the moment of discovery -- as a young boy and his dad set out to find one of nature's unforgettable wonders.
A father promises his young son that this summer they will see a deer. They set out over the dunes, through the marsh, and into the woods, searching for a white-flag tail or a set of leaping legs. But deer are hard to find, especially if your feet want to dance and your nose tickles until you sneeze. Squirrels scurry up trees, rabbits leap out of sight, and a pheasant flushes into the sky, but the deer remain hidden until the boy is almost ready to give up and head home. A captivating, lyrical narrative and oil-on-linen landscape illustrations create a sense of quiet suspense as a young boy experiences a sight he will hold in his memory forever.
Author Notes
Pat Lowery Collins is the author of many books for children and young adults, including the novels Hidden Voices: The Orphan Musicians of Venice and Daughter of Winter . About The Deer Watch , she says, "The mystical feelings I experienced when sighting two fawns in the early morning were the inspiration for this tale." She lives in Massachusetts.
David Slonim is a fine artist and writer and illustrator for children. He is the illustrator of Moishe's Miracle by Laura Krauss Melmed and the author-illustrator of He Came with the Couch and Oh, Ducky! David Slonim lives in Indiana.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-4-After the family returns to its summer home, a boy and his dad go on a much-anticipated outing to find a deer. They climb the dunes and tramp through the marsh and onto conservation land. Throughout their quest, they see birds and other animals, but no deer. The child's sneeze and his feet that dance in eagerness might have frightened them away. Certainly the men with their bulldozers, hammers, and drills have scared them off. Indeed, wildlife was far more abundant here, Dad laments, before humans encroached on the habitat. Still, for those who take the time to look and listen quietly, seemingly hidden creatures can make an appearance. And sure enough, after a warm rain, a doe and her two fawns step out of the shadows and then disappear, a gift for patient waiting. The large oil paintings on linen are richly textured and depict the forest landscape in quiet pastel hues. The poetic text is lovely, though it may stretch credulity to believe the young narrator would really describe their house as smelling like "old trees," or a boat as having a "moth-wing sail." Pair this story with Nicola Davies's Outside Your Window (Candlewick, 2012) to spark children's interest in the natural world and generate ideas for its preservation.-Marianne Saccardi, formerly at Norwalk Community College, CT (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Writing in evocative prose poetry, Collins (Come Out, Come Out!) tells the story of a boy and his father who arise with the sun one morning to try to glimpse the local deer. They are staying with the boy's mother at a summer house on the shore "that smelled like old trees/ and where/ the seagulls on the roof/ believed they owned the place." As they walk, they discover an egret (a "tall white shaggy bird,/ its neck a question mark") and, less auspiciously, workmen disrupting the morning quiet with their bulldozers. A gentle sense of suspense slowly builds, leading to the magical instant when a doe and two fawns materialize. Slonim (I Loathe You), painting thickly in oils, does a lovely job of visualizing the wet stillness of a silent morning near the shore, as well as the intimacy between the terse father and his enthusiastic son. A nostalgic sensibility runs throughout Collins's writing, the story unfolding from the poetic adult perspective of one sharing a treasured memory. Ages 3-6. Author's agent: Lauren Abramo, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Soft oil paintings in impressionistic style suit this peaceful book well. The plot is slim--a boy goes with his father from a seacoast cottage early in the morning in hopes of spotting a deer (they do)--but the text is appropriately quiet, and the mood of natural wonder and being at one with an animal has universal appeal. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Early one morning a young boy and his father climb the dunes by their house and walk into a wooded conservation area to look for deer. Stopping from time to time, waiting and watching (the father patiently, the boy finding it difficult to stay still), they spy an egret wading in water, a pheasant rising into the air, and finally, finally, a doe and two fawns. Later the boy reflects that he will always remember the way those deer had suddenly appeared, / the way they'd quickly run away / as if they'd come from nowhere. Poetic in a plainspoken, colloquial way, the text is written from the boy's point of view as he recalls the experience. The impressionistic illustrations show up well from a distance, transporting viewers to the beautifully composed waterside and woodland scenes created with impressionistic plays of light on rocks, water, sky, trees, people, and deer. Close up, the thick, short brushstrokes and individual dabs of color will tempt children to reach out and feel their varied textures on the page. Like Jane Yolen and John Schoenherr's Caldecott-winning Owl Moon (1987), this quiet picture book records a child's experience of nature with precision, beauty, and understated power.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist
