Someday [Hardcover]

Alison McGhee (Author), Peter H. Reynolds (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 27, 2007 | Age Range: 4 and up

A mother's love leads to a mother's dream -- every mother's dream -- for her child to live life to its fullest.

A deceptively simple, powerful ode to the potential of love and the potential in life, Someday is the book you'll want to share with someone else...today. The perfect gift for Mother's Day, Graduation Day or Any Day - share a copy with every special person in your life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

One day I counted your fingers and kissed each one," opens McGhee's (A Very Brave Witch) understated yet emotion-charged expression of a mother's love and hopes for her child. Reynolds's (The Dot) spare, wispy pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations depict the narrator and her daughter sharing everyday moments that mark milestones in the girl's maturation: the mother watches snowflakes "melt on your baby skin" and crosses the street as her little one grasps her hand. A transitional spread first reveals the youngster on a tricycle, aided by her mother, and then riding solo on a bicycle ("Then, you were my baby,/ and now you are my child"). Quietly the emotion builds, as the mother thinks of the future in store for her daughter, its joys and sorrows: "Someday I will stand on this porch and watch your arms waving to me until I no longer see you." Here Reynolds depicts the woman, older than she was at the book's start, on the left, gazing forlornly across the white expanse of the spread. The narrative comes full circle, as the parent looks ahead to a day, "a long time from now," when her daughter's own hair will "glow silver in the sun." Handlettering by Reynolds augments the story's deeply personal quality, which will resonate with both new and seasoned mothers. All ages. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2—A mother speaks to her young daughter of milestones to come in her life, first recalling her infancy ("One day I counted your fingers and kissed each one"), and then contemplating her future ("Someday you will swing high—so high, higher than you ever dared to swing"), her adulthood ("Someday I will watch you brushing your child's hair"), and her old age ("Someday, a long time from now, your own hair will glow silver in the sun. And when that day comes, love, you will remember me"). The pen, ink, and watercolor sketches have the same soft sentimentality as the text. The artist's use of white space and hand-printed letters gives a childlike innocence to the book. However, its greeting-card quality will appeal more to new mothers and gift-givers than to children. Barbara M. Joosse's Mama, Do You Love Me? (Chronicle, 1991) is a better choice for libraries.—Carolyn Janssen, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers; First Edition edition (February 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416928111
• ISBN-13: 978-1416928119
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (173 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,260 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Family Life > Parents
  • #63 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Emotions & Feelings

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 66 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars To treasure forever March 11, 2007

By Bee

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is beautiful and moving. The illustrations are cute and fun, there's very little text, just one or two sentences on each page under the drawing.
In simple beautiful words the author takes her daughter from her birth to the day when she will be a mother herself, and ultimately be old and cherish the memory of her Mom.
It is amazing how such simple illustrations and words can convey such strong emotions.
This is a book that every Mom will treasure. Reading it will likely bring tears to her eyes, and sharing it with her child will be a special moment...

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Mother's Storybook Wish for Her Child October 4, 2007

By Ann Douglas VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

SOMEDAY is a mother's heartfelt storybook wish for her child -- that her child will grow up healthy, experience great joys, and someday have a family of her own. It's also a wish that she will be lovingly remembered by her child ("Someday, a long time from now, your own hair will glow silver in the sun. And when that day comes, love, you will remember be.") The book is reminiscent of Robert Munsch's Love You Forever, but the storyline is simpler and more realistic. The illustrations complement the story beautifully. Highly recommended.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful and moving--for mothers and children alike! February 15, 2007

By S. Blackburn

Format:Hardcover

this is a beautiful story about the hopes and dreams a mother has for her child. as a mother myself, i deeply connected with this book. i am buying it for my girlfriends for a mother's day gift--i know they'll all enjoy reading it with their children.

68 of 85 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Adult Sentiments - Too Dark for the Wee Ones January 2, 2008

By Amy

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I will start with saying that the illustrations in the book are lovely; utterly enchanting. What I don't understand is why one would want to saddle their little ones with forethoughts of grief. When the reader has reached the last page, the ultimate conclusion is that someday your mom will be dead and you will be old and thinking about her. At least this tale isn't quite as dark and bizarre as 'Love You Forever' but it still has quite a morose undercurrent. As in Wendell Berry's 'The Peace of Wild Things' I find it more invigorating to dwell in the joy of the here and now. I will find another book that conveys the extent of my love for my children without resorting to such depressing sentimentality.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars NPR turned me on, and then i fell in love with it..... March 14, 2007

By Kathleen A. Larsyn

Format:Hardcover

when i heard the author yesterday on NPR tear up as she read from her book, i decided that when i got to the library (yes, i was really on the way!) i would check it out.....oh my gosh.....i was crying as i shared with the children's librarian! in the vein of "love you forever" by robert munsch (did you know he didn't know that it was a best seller in the US for three years? visit his web site for the story, and other great stuff) it is a book to share with our children, young and old, our parents, young or old....or even my blase eigth graders (i am a school librarian) to maybe spark some real feelings about their families, and what life is truly about......a remarkable story...oh, and if you haven't read "i love you like crazycakes" a book about the adoption of a baby girl from China, get that one, too.....

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Treasure of Text and Timeless Images March 28, 2007

By Timothy Hernandez

Format:Hardcover

I can think of no better book for a mother to give her daughter right now. Peter H. Reynolds has done his best to inspire a new generation of readers through his works, notably, The Dot (Irma S and James H Black Honor for Excellence in Children's Literature (Awards), and here he teams with Alison McGhee to create a book of memories, I think, any mom would be proud to share with her daughter. The book traces significant moments in a girl's life from infancy through adulthood, chronicling both achievements and heartache along the way. The soft-hued illustrations complement the simple, repetitive text and make the book appropriate for the youngest of readers. If you don't find yourself tearing up at the end, you're not human. I can't wait for McGhee and Reynolds to collaborate on a book for fathers and their sons.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Tragically Sad but Beautiful February 27, 2011

By TRLK

Format:Hardcover

I don't even know how to rate this book. If you want to have your day ruined, it's great at doing that. It's a beautiful book but so very sad.

My mom gave me this for my first Mother's Day when my daughter was only a couple months old. I started getting teary but when I got to the last page I was devastated. I just wasn't expecting it to be such a sad book.

Then today I thought I'd try reading it a second time, my daughter is now a year old, and I thought maybe it was just the postpartum hormones that got to me the first time I'd read it. But no, it's the book. I was bawling again.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Comes with free freshly cut onions. October 28, 2011

By Tim Baker

Format:Hardcover

I rarely read children's books, but when I do, I like to read them out loud to children. Yes, this is a beautiful book, but buyer beware - it is targeted at your heartstrings and it will hit hard and fast. I don't think I could find any parent (or parent on deck) that could possibly read this without tearing up. I'm not sure how it is from the children's perspective to watch their parents attempt to emotionally come to terms with their departure from their children's lives, but I bet it's rather unsettling. This written for parents - not children.