Heat Wave [Hardcover]

Eileen Spinelli (Author), Betsy Lewin (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up

The mercury is climbing in Lumberville, and the folks are doing everything they can to keep cool. Officer McGinnis spends the day in a cold bath, Lottie Mims does her housework in her bathing suit, and Abigail and Ralphie Blue sell ice cubes. When the temperature refuses to relent, the entire community seeks solace by the river--where everyone dreams of cool relief.

    

A cast of quirky characters and lots of playful details from two celebrated picture-book talents make this heat wave look like fun!

(20070615)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From the opening lines (Sun sizzled. Hair frizzled), Spinelli (Summerhouse Time) jauntily establishes the theme for this tale of one sweltering week in the town of Lumberville, long before the advent of air conditioners. Beginning on a blistering Monday, the day-by-day chronicle reveals how residents cope. Abigail Blue and her brother Ralphie open a lemonade stand, but two days later forgot about the lemonade and just sold ice. Lottie Mims takes four cold showers one day and on the next wore her bathing suit to clean house. Caldecott Honor artist Lewin's (Click, Clack, Moo) amusing assemblage of brush, ink and watercolor images portray the resourceful ways the townsfolk try to beat the heat. On Saturday night, everyone—whether in a bed or on a rooftop or on a fire escape or in a tent or near the river—everyone... had the exact same dream. A spread depicting that dream rounds up playful portraits of the smiling citizens frolicking in the rain. A power outage may be the closest modern readers come to a similar experience, but they (and nostalgic parents) should nonetheless appreciate this good-natured tribute to summer at its hottest. Ages 3-7. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Kindergarten-Grade 3—Before stores, businesses, and homes had air conditioners, the residents of Lumberville had to get creative during a heat wave. The "sun sizzled. Hair frizzled" as sweltering day after day began. Townspeople, kids, and dogs try a variety of ways to cool down and finally all camp out on the riverbank dreaming of a break in the weather. Stark white pages provide the perfect backdrop for fresh, vivid watercolor cartoons, with the final page displaying splashes of refreshing blue raindrops. While the story is simple and straightforward, the sun-drenched illustrations provide a spirited and evocative look back in time.—Judy Chichinski, Skyline Elementary School, Tacoma, WA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books (July 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 015216779X
• ISBN-13: 978-0152167790
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,447,085 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eileen Spinelli is no stranger to the Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers list. Since her debut in 1991 with Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch, an IRA/CBC Children's Choice book and Christopher Award winner, she has gone on to author numerous picture books, poetry collections, and chapter books, including the best-selling When Mama Comes Home Tonight, and the critically acclaimed Sophie's Masterpiece. Eileen lives in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Days Before AC, September 12, 2007

By 

Martha Freeman "Mom/Writer/Teacher" (state college, pa USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Heat Wave (Hardcover)

The book opens: "Sun sizzled. Hair frizzled," but it might as well start out: Once upon a time there was no AC. Spinelli enshrouds the story of Lumberville's big heat wave with a nostalgic haze that's just this side of longing. The townspeople, all with names that are fun to say like Lottie Sims, the Pettibone sister, and Mailman Mike Morello, get creative in their efforts to cope with the heat. They set up lemonade stands, sleep with teabags on their eyes, wrap damp kerchiefs around their necks.
Eventually, the whole town gathers on the riverside with pillows to try to sleep. The mayor treats them to popsicles (accompanied by campaign fliers), and everyone dreams of rain - charmingly depicted by Lewin as drops of blue watercolor paint. This is a wonderful book, but -- I hope -- not a prophetic one.