Kestrel by Mark Svendsen, Steven Woolman and Laura Peterson
A simple picture book, and three authors credited. This is usually a guarantee of disaster. However, this book was partially completed when Steven Woolman died leaving only pencil sketches. Laura Peterson took up the challenge of finishing Woolman’s work and the result is stunning.
The story is simple. A father has refused to allow a young boy to have his own rowboat, claiming that it is too dangerous. The boy’s grandfather invites the young boy to help him build a boat for another boy. Together the two build what will become a generous gift.
As it has always been with Steven Woolman’s books, the artwork enhances the story adding layers of complexity to the tale. This time there seems to be a poignant beauty as well, perhaps because as a reader we know that we will never see illustrations like this again.
This is a lovely publication, and I would fork out the money to get the hardcover edition. The print quality is usually much better.
