Traces

by Paula Fox, Karla Kuskin Bell (Illustrator)

A charming picture book from two celebrated masters of children's literature. This lyric poem by one of the most revered children's writers captures those faint glimpses of things that you see but don't quite recognize; sounds you can almost hear; smells, tastes, and feelings that you can't quite name. Each line of the poem and each picture in the book depict the sensual essence of a child's day, each of which is totally typical yet thoroughly unique.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Nature, Childrens, Science

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

Paula Fox was an American author of novels for adults and children and two memoirs. Her novel The Slave Dancer (1973) received the Newbery Medal in 1974; and in 1978, she was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal. More recently, A Portrait of Ivan won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 2008.

A teenage marriage produced a daughter, Linda, in 1944. Given the tumultuous relationship with her own biological parents, she gave the child up for adoption. Linda Carroll, the daughter Fox gave up for adoption, is the mother of musician Courtney Love.

Fox then attended Columbia University, married the literary critic and translator Martin Greenberg, raised two sons, taught, and began to write.

Reviews

[Michelle Farella · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like the idea behind the book, but the way it was executed was very poorly done. The "traces" are not illustrated in a way that anyone could guess what animal left them. Picture book FAIL.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guessing style format of what animal has just been there is one children will enjoy (tracks, footprints, a flash of a tail).
Love Karla Kuskin's illustrations as well.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ehhh...the text in this book was boring and hard to read and the illustrations gave way too many clues as to who made the tracks.

[Lauri Meyers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice lyrical adjectives explore the footprints, bubbles, and wisps of wind left from various animals and things.

[Mackenzie Virginia · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 stars for illustrations, 3 for text

[Joenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

An abstract book with clues to help the reader discover what left traces. So what leaves bubbles in the water and is plump, warty and croaking? A bullfrog. Cute idea, but not a fan of the writing style.

[Mandy E · Rating 2 out of 5]

we really liked the stylized art (although the traces themselves were not very clearly expressed), and the idea of exploring the notion of traces piqued our curiosity, but we quickly lost interest in the uninspired writing.

[Kate Hastings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book to pair with a discussion of fossils. We all leave a "trace" or a hint of ourselves wherever we go. Fossils are more permanent traces!

[Candi]

Ages 7 to 9

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the illustrations, but I found the text confusing and weird. Good vocabulary, strange execution. Others may disagree, but this did not speak to me.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

too small to use for storytime but this book makes kids think about what tracks animals leave on their way through nature.

[Kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the delicate illustrations, but I felt the way the text was placed on the pages was uneven verse to verse.

[Inhabiting Books]

Not a lot of kid-appeal.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked the illustrations, but the text really lacked flow.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quiet exploration for meditative children. Left me thinking where's our carbon footprint?

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the idea of this book, and I like some of the illustrations, but I just didn't feel like the book tied together well enough.