Shelf Awareness--I Am the Wind

PB Review: I Am the Wind

I Am the Wind by Michael Karg, illus. by Sophie Diao (Page Street Kids, 32p., ages 4-8, 9781624149221)

Playful, evocative text and art define this creative nonfiction picture book, an author and illustrator debut, which follows the whooshing, whirling and whispering wind as it visits 11 different animals--plus a human child--in various habitats around the world.

This story begins and ends in a city where, despite the "cold and dusky damp," a frisky breeze delights one young girl as it stirs autumn leaves. The wind moves on to "float in a barred owl's flight" above snowy fields, "scale the highest peaks" with a wolverine, race "like a river" with wolves and settle with "musk ox in massive coats... on a starry polar night." It electrifies "the heavens for a festive reindeer picnic," whistles through a "snow leopard ledge" and "serenade[s] some geese" over Everest. On and on it goes, all the while proudly proclaiming, "I AM THE WIND."

Michael Karg's expressive text makes excellent use of alliteration and repetition, and his personification of the wind serves as a perfect vehicle to whisk readers away to far-flung regions of the world. Sophie Diao's digital illustrations evoke the near constant motion of the journey, employing a variety of dynamic viewpoints to bring both wind and animals to boisterous life. Back matter includes a map, a short explanation of the way wind interacts with wildlife and an additional fact or two for each animal featured in the book. I Am the Wind serves as an age-appropriate introduction and global ode to this restless force of nature, one always ready "to lift again, and sing and swirl and soar." --Lynn Becker, blogger and host of Book Talk, a monthly online discussion of children's books for SCBWI.

Discover: An exuberant wind proudly escorts readers on a journey to visit animals around the globe.