The following unabridged reviews are made available under license from their respective rights holders and publishers. Reviews may be used for educational purposes consistent with the fair use doctrine in your jurisdiction, and may not be reproduced or repurposed without permission from the rights holders.

Note: This section may include reviews for related titles (e.g., same author, series, or related edition).

From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

A confident kingfisher fledgling goes out on a limb by telling her siblings she can fly. But when she somersaults off the branch, she falls straight down, nosediving past owls, squirrels, bees, a spider, a snail, ants, and a ladybug. They all try to help her, but to no avail. Mel finally falls straight into the water and emerges with a fish in her beak. She flies up and up, back to her nest with bragging rights. She drops the fish just before she gets back to her branch, and a visual subplot shows the fish falling, saying “I’m flying! I’m flying!” before plopping back into the water. This book must be turned sideways, with the spine at the top, for the pages showing Mel’s descent, and then back around for Mel’s flight back up to her nest. A page at the center, showing Mel in the water, is cleverly designed to make the book turn seem natural and effortless. There are a lot of humorous details in the colored pencil-and-acrylic illustrations as other creatures react to Mel “flying” by. (Ages 3-7)

CCBC Choices 2022 © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2022. Used with permission.

From Horn Book

Starred review from March 1, 2021
This playful and innovatively designed book tells the story of a small bird who is eager to fly. When Mama leaves the tree one day, Mel jumps, and readers follow her freefall, beak pointed straight at the ground -- a moment made even more dramatic by the vertical orientation of this book. As she falls, she passes other tree-dwellers who try to catch her -- squirrels, owls, a spider, and more (all their dialogue is captured in speech bubbles). When she splashes into the water below, readers are instructed, via smaller font, to turn the book clockwise, and then once again to follow her path back up ("She flew!") with a fish in her beak. She passes the same creatures on her flight up, all of whom cheer her on, the spider even weaving a "yay" for Mel in its web. There's a good deal of humor in this lighthearted story; a slug keeps promising to help but never makes it far, and a fly is liberated ("I'm free!") from the spider's web when Mel falls through it. Tabor's relaxed, loose-lined illustrations capture the energy of the fall as well as Mel's endearing, determined personality. A short closing note from the author states that Mel is a kingfisher, and that kingfishers are unlikely to catch fish the first time they fly -- but that "Mel is a very special bird." Indeed. Julie Danielson

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From Booklist

January 29, 2021
Grades K-2 While Mama is away on an errand, Mel the bird decides to learn how to fly. Off the branch she goes, thus beginning a fall that gets really long--and really suspenseful. The oblong pages are designed to be turned vertically so the tree trunk forms a continuous band on one side as Mel plummets past wide-eyed owls, swarming bees, an overly ambitious snail ("I . . . will . . . catch . . . you . . . !"), and others before plunging into water where she snags a fish. As lines of text twist around to follow her, she finally wings her way up past the tree's cheering residents to get a loving hug from Mama back at the nest: "I flew! I flew!" For fledgling readers who might not recognize Mel's distinctive blue-and-orange coloring, Tabor explains that she is a kingfisher, a bird that dives into water for food. He saves that note for the end, though, so as not to spoil the drama. Heartening fare for nestlings facing plunges of their own.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Horn Book

January 1, 2021
This playful and innovatively designed book tells the story of a small bird who is eager to fly. When Mama leaves the tree one day, Mel jumps, and readers follow her freefall, beak pointed straight at the ground -- a moment made even more dramatic by the vertical orientation of this book. As she falls, she passes other tree-dwellers who try to catch her -- squirrels, owls, a spider, and more (all their dialogue is captured in speech bubbles). When she splashes into the water below, readers are instructed, via smaller font, to turn the book clockwise, and then once again to follow her path back up ("She flew!") with a fish in her beak. She passes the same creatures on her flight up, all of whom cheer her on, the spider even weaving a "yay" for Mel in its web. There's a good deal of humor in this lighthearted story; a slug keeps promising to help but never makes it far, and a fly is liberated ("I'm free!") from the spider's web when Mel falls through it. Tabor's relaxed, loose-lined illustrations capture the energy of the fall as well as Mel's endearing, determined personality. A short closing note from the author states that Mel is a kingfisher, and that kingfishers are unlikely to catch fish the first time they fly -- but that "Mel is a very special bird." Indeed.

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From Kirkus

Starred review from December 1, 2020
Mel knows it's her day to fly. A stout kingfisher fledgling marches to the end of her branch, jumps, flips, spreads her wings--and falls. Down she goes, beak-first, eyes shut, smiling broadly. This lovely book's vertical format prompts readers to look longitudinally at each spread, up and down the trunk of a tall tree, following Mel's descent. The unusual orientation, coupled with the gripping idea of first flight (or fall!), inspires both excitement and anxiety. Muted pastel illustrations set against ample, bleached-out white space convey craggy bark, Mel's soft blue and russet feathers, and clusters of oval celadon leaves. Mel plummets, and animals (squirrels, bees, ants--even a spider and a realllllly slow-moving snail) scramble to help, adding humor. She crashes (into water!), and readers hold their breath, turning the book to follow her new trajectory. When Mel turns and shoots out of the water holding a fish in her beak, past her animal friends on the tree trunk, they will cheer. A note on kingfishers appears in the backmatter above a delightful picture of Mel nudging one of her siblings toward the end of the branch. Young people, who find themselves on the precipice of new activities, routines, schools, and challenges so frequently, will savor this little kingfisher's success and perhaps feel they can right themselves the next time they fall into a downward spiral. Encourages children to feel brave, to try, and to believe they can soar. (Picture book. 4-10)

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Publisher's Weekly

Starred review from November 9, 2020
With Mama Kingfisher temporarily away from the nest, a tangerine-and-turquoise-hued chick named Mel confidently strides out to the edge of a very high tree branch and announces that she's going to learn how to fly. "It sure is a long drop," observes one of her considerably more cautious siblings, which is a cue for the narrative and visual arc of this story by Tabor (Snail Crossing) to take a decidedly funny downward turn. The mixed media drawings, alive with wonderful textures and soft colors, show Mel executing an impressive aerial somersault before blithely hurtling headfirst in parallel with the tree trunk as inhabitants below are thrown into comic panic, convinced that Mel's dive-bombing will result in disaster. An owl family looks on with alarm, a spider tries to catch her with all eight hands, and a good-hearted, slow-moving slug makes a clearly impossible promise: "I... will... catch... you...!" Just as the trajectory looks bleak, Mel hits the previously unrevealed water belowâ€"the white background turns beautiful shades of blueâ€"and shows, through a wonderful visual surprise, that she's a kingfisher through and through. (An endnote provides more info on the species.) "Hope" may be the thing with feathers, but Mel proves that "gutsy" can be, too. Ages 4—8. Agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House.