ON BIRD HILL by Jane Yolen is an imaginative picture book taking readers on a walk through a fantasy landscape.

The endearing story follows a child and his dog as they stroll through a valley and zoom into the natural world. Loosely based on a century-old nursery rhyme, Jane Yolen has created an enchanting world for today’s children to explore. Bob Marstall’s illustrations bring the story’s surreal landscape to life with intriguing plants, animals, and human elements.

Librarians will find Yolen’s lyrical prose to be useful in storytelling activities. The whimsical, imaginary world sets the stage for a wide range of classroom activities. While some teachers may see opportunities for children to create their own imaginary worlds, others may see chances to talk about local plants and animals.

Learn more about the author at http://janeyolen.com/.
Learn more about the illustrator at http://bobmarstall.com/. Download a free teacher’s guide.

Published by Cornell Lab Publishing Group on May 10, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher. ( )

The brief well-written poetic verses accompanying the colorful illustrations, makes this a perfect picture book for the very young child. The cover Illustration and Title depicts the story theme very well. It has BIG colorful pages with simple illustrations which will surely attract the very young child's attention.

The one problem I had with it is the story's verse seemed a little awkward at the emerging of the bird. Also, the illustrations was out of proportions with the images of the main character, speaking. Also if it was so high up, the boy would not have been able to see the bird emerge.

If you can overlook the problems of unbalance imagery, it was a cute story.

I offer a Three and a Half Stars rating.

*This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review, of which I have given. ( )