Book Review of Hummer and the Boy
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The Children’s Book Review
Hummer and the Boy
Written by VIENNE REA
Illustrated by VIENNE REA and Xiao
Ages: 4-6 | 52 Pages
Publisher: VIENNE REA WRiTES (2026) | ISBN: 978-1-971120-11-9
What to Expect: Migration, friendship, growing up, animal companionship, love, self-forgiveness.
Moving and peaceful at the same time, this beautiful story explores friendship and the difficult idea that even close friends sometimes drift apart.
Emmett first made friends with Hummer the Canadian goose when he was five and a half years old. Hummer was waiting by the lakeside, and instead of flying off on migration with the other geese, he stayed a few days to listen to Emmett’s stories. Theirs is an unlikely but enduring friendship, lasting over the years as Emmett grows older and his stories become more involved. No matter what is happening in his life, he knows he can find comfort after a chat with his old friend Hummer. But as Emmett gets older still, he gets distracted by life, and several years pass before he remembers to visit his old friend by the lakeside. Hummer is still there, waiting for him, but he is old now, and it doesn’t seem he can survive the long winter migration. Can Emmett ever make up for the many years of lost time with Hummer?
Like the hero of The Giving Tree, Emmett doesn’t remain the same throughout the book, growing older and changing as the story progresses—but he always keeps his kind heart and curious nature. His friendship with Hummer illustrates how little differences in appearance and behavior matter between friends who share time, attention, and care. The story is told through short paragraphs of simple prose and beautiful, softly colored watercolor illustrations of a peaceful lakeside setting, against which Hummer’s expressive yet realistic features shine.
Gentle and heartwarming, Hummer and the Boy is a lovely story for any sensitive young reader who likes to think deeply about life.
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About the Author
VIENNE REA is an artist and storyteller whose creative work spans more than forty years of photography, painting, sculpture, and jewelry design. Through her publishing company, VIENNE REA WRiTES, she brings her narrative voice and cinematic eye to prose, essays, and stories for adults and children.
Her writing is visually driven and emotionally layered. Regardless of form or audience, her work begins with the same intention: to create stories that will find a place in the reader’s heart.
For more information, visit VIENNEREAWRiTES.com.
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