Give and Take - Hardcover

Chris Raschka is the illustrator of The Hello, Goodbye Window, which was awarded the Caldecott Medal. He is also the illustrator of the Caldecott Honor Book Yo! Yes?; Charlie Parker Played Be Bop; Mysterious Thelonious; John Coltrane’s Giant Steps; Can’t Sleep; and The Magic Flute. He lives with his wife and son in New York City.

Chris Raschka is the illustrator of The Hello, Goodbye Window, which was awarded the Caldecott Medal. He is also the illustrator of the Caldecott Honor Book Yo! Yes?; Charlie Parker Played Be Bop; Mysterious Thelonious; John Coltrane’s Giant Steps; Can’t Sleep; and The Magic Flute. He lives with his wife and son in New York City.

*Starred Review* Meet an apple farmer who loves his apples. One day, he finds the apples of his oldest tree ripe and ready. But while he is picking, someone finds the farmer: an elfin little man named Take. When a grower asks the farmer if he’d like some pumpkins, Take insists the old fellow grab them all. So the farmer dumps the apples and brings home pumpkins instead, winding up with pots of pumpkin soup—and he doesn’t even like pumpkin soup. The next day, another little fellow appears, this one named Give. Give offers the opposite advice and insists that all of the picked apples—along with many opinions—are given to a pig farmer. Finally, the third day sees Give and Take wrestling and squabbling until the farmer trades some of his apples for some of the miller’s flour. The result? Apple pie! And now it is clear (and will be clear to the audience) that what Give and Take need are each other. This simple, powerful parable finds perfect expression in Raschka’s wildly inventive ink-and-watercolor illustrations. Bold, exaggerated swirls depict the action as well as the emotional toll of the farmer’s attempts to balance, well, everything: plans, pronouncements, and produce. Occasionally these dramatic images are a bit hard to decipher, but children will let their imaginations take over as they ponder how give-and-take can work for them. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Librarians and fans are always interested in what the multitalented Raschka is up to. Here he makes a welcome foray into the world of fables. Preschool-Grade 1. --Ilene Cooper