With my local library restricted to “curbside pick-up” options, I’ve turned to raiding my husband’s book collection. (I’m still a bit wary of the germs accumulating on library books. When I volunteered right before the shutdown, the librarian warned me of the sticky, goopy messes I would find when reshelving books. I’m not sure I want to know what’s been added because of this virus.) So, I found the beautifully-covered book If I Never Ever Endeavor by Holly Meade on our shelves.
“If I Never Ever Endeavor”
First and foremost, Holly Meade‘s illustrations leap off the page. The layered texture shows up so clearly that I kept touching the pages to feel the bird’s wings. Even the watercolor sky added so much depth to the images. In fact, the watercolor swathes often reflected the bird’s feelings and expectations. Truly, Meade excels at art.
That said, the quality of illustration far surpasses the quality of writing. While I love the premise of the book, the language was often so disjointed and the rhythm so inconsistent that I had a hard time following along. Honestly, I felt like I was reading a tongue twister. Several passages sang and flowed with rhyme, but the following passages dropped like a dud. Of course, the challenge of finding multiple rhyming words with a bird theme affected the flow. I think in trying to keep the story original, Meade used a convoluted structure to overcome any repetitive rhymes. It didn’t destroy the story, but it did take away from the book’s readability.
Working Through Fear
What the book lacks in structure, it makes up for in heart. The little bird’s struggle to fly reflects a very human fear of change, failure, and rejection. I love the pages at the climax of the book when the bird decides to try flying. The bird doesn’t instantly swoop into the air like a superhero. Instead, the bird plummets. He struggles at first, but he keeps on flapping. That perseverance ultimately gets the bird flying.
While I might have revised the structure and rhyme scheme of If I Never Ever Endeavor, I see myself reading this book to my future children one day. The book will help me encourage them to try new things. It will give me the opportunity to remind my children that God protects them. God won’t always keep them from failing, but He will support them and lift them back up when they fall.
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