From Publishers Weekly
Johnson and Fancher's (My Many Colored Days) progression of paintings captures an uncanny likeness to the shifting light during the course of a single day, inspired by a first-time-author team's evocative poems. The authors explore the great outdoors in a series of economical verses for which a word's letters begin each line of text. In one of the strongest poems, "Rain" becomes "Rap-tap-tapping/ At my window/ In drip-drop/ Notes." Because of the brevity of the poems, the success lies in the metaphor, and the authors come up with some perfect matches: "Stars" are "Silver seeds/ Tossed in the air/ And planted in the sky,/ Reaching out of the darkness/ Sprouting wonder," and the moon a "Marvelous melon, whole/ Or sliced,/ Offering sweet flavor to the/ Night." The chronology of the poems flows as smoothly as the passing of time: "Dawn" gives way to "Sun" then "Shadow"; "Clouds" is followed by "Fog" then "Rain." Johnson and Fancher's illustrations hew to a Shaker-like spareness. They often focus on one central image--a bright hummingbird hovering at a deep purple morning glory, a single turquoise butterfly fluttering through a field of sunlit poppies--and they link the poems by featuring a boy and girl, sometimes together, sometimes alone. In one particularly dramatic spread, "Fog," the children hold hands, enveloped by a swirl of gray. A dazzling example of how poetry can prompt readers to view ordinary experiences through fresh eyes. Ages 5-9.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
K-Gr 4-The wonder that the natural world holds for children is brought to glowing life in this picture book composed of evocative poems and luminous double-page spreads. Arranged according to the cycle of a day, the verses follow a young boy and girl from dawn to darkness as they encounter a hummingbird, their shadows, clouds, rain, fog, and a handful of other amazing sights. The short poems use simple language and are filled with imagery. Using the acrostic model, they build on the letters that make up the word being described. For example, "Trees" becomes "Tiny hands/Reaching up from the/Earth, tickling an/Enormous/Sky." The title of the book is taken from "Stars," which imagines these orbs as "Silver seeds/Tossed in the air/And planted in the sky,/Reaching out of the darkness/Sprouting wonder." Using eye-catching colors and shifting perspectives, the artwork also celebrates nature as seen through the eyes of youngsters. Whether focusing on a close-up of the boy's face as he listens to a bee or pulling back to show the two children looking tiny against a landscape of rolling hills, the illustrations, as well as the placement of the text on the page, reinforce each poem's subject. A first-rate choice for school and public libraries, this book will also be popular with classroom teachers doing poetry units.-Maura Bresnahan, Shawsheen School, Andover, MA
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
