From School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 3—Turk takes readers on a visual journey through 25 national parks with the effect of perusing a travelogue. Each landscape spread features a different park subtly named in the bottom corner that sometimes includes wildlife or human visitors. The illustrations, rendered in pastel on black paper are, with a few notable exceptions (the Arches, Everglades, and Biscayne), predominantly dark. Touches of yellows, blues, and greens lighten most pages, but the cumulative effect is one of darkness. Endpapers depict a sunrise and a starry night sky; most pages in between have a dawn, dusk or nighttime feel. Back matter includes a U.S. map with all 58 National Parks indicated, author notes, and further information about the featured parks and animals. Unfortunately, the print on the "More About" page is so small only the hardiest of young readers might believe it was meant for them. The text is indeed a classic ode with the refrain, "you are home." Turk first addresses the creatures you might encounter in the parks, turns his attention to "the child in the city," "the child on the farm," and then immigrants and "ancestors," touching upon the irony that many of these lands were home to Native Americans before the "stars and stripes took them as their own," only to preserve the land as "a place for all." VERDICT Rather than sparking young readers' interest in our National Parks, this earnest but abstract picture book will be most appreciated by those who are already familiar with them.—Lynn Van Auken, Oak Bluffs School, MA
Review
* “This love letter to America’s national treasures is an important, informative invitation to experience and explore.” -- Booklist, starred review
* “Splendid landscapes by Turk celebrate America’s national parks. . . . In consistently powerful spreads, the artist highlights the play of sun and shadow over mountains and canyons with fiery oranges, deep rusts and cobalts, and velvety black. There are 58 U.S. national parks, and 22 appear here, from Yosemite and Yellowstone to Biscayne Bay. It’s hard to imagine a more fitting testament to their grandeur.” -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
* “Much like the parks they celebrate, each majestic spread in this book holds wonders for the eye to explore. . . . Perusing this book induces a longing to go outside and travel but also to create art of one's own. Masterful.” -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review
* “Expansive . . . Turk’s magnificent, lush illustrations, with deft use of light and shadow, depict not only grandiose mountains and vistas (Yosemite appears in a stunning double-gatefold spread) but also the creatures therein (a bobcat in Yosemite, fireflies in the Smokies) and the families who visit. . . . It all adds up to an informative and breathtaking exploration of U.S. national parks.” -- Bookpage, starred review
"This lyrical tribute demands art to match, and Ezra Jack Keats Book Award winner Evan Turk rises to the challenge. . . . A gallant rebuke to the expression 'You had to be there.'" -- Shelf Awareness, starred review
“Turk captures the very idea of our national parks. With bold, freewheeling painting and equally bold, concise poetry, plus informational pages, he has made a book as majestic and inclusive as its subject.” -- The New York Times Book Review
About the Author
Evan Turk is an Ezra Jack Keats Award–winning illustrator, author, and animator. He is the author-illustrator of The Storyteller, Heartbeat, You Are Home: An Ode to the National Parks, A Thousand Glass Flowers, and Hello, Moon and the illustrator of Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters, which was a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book; The People’s Painter; Grandfather Gandhi; and its companion Be the Change. Originally from Colorado, Evan now lives in southern California with his husband and two cats. He is a graduate of Parsons School of Design. Visit him at EvanTurk.com.
