Customer Reviews

Sunrise, Sunset

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book for my family day care. My little 3 year olds learned the entire song by heart in just a couple weeks. From the first time I opened it they were mesmerized with the colorfully illustrated pictures of a little boy and a little girl who grow up to be beautiful and tall. They love the page with the sunflowers and bride under the canopy. And of course the last page with their baby. Even though I've seen the movie and heard the songs a million times I'm always blown away with the words to this song. Life in Day Care is certainly ladened with happiness and sometimes tears. I highly recommend this very thoughtful book.

This delightful picture book adaptation of the beloved song, "Sunrise, Sunset" from the famous musical Fiddler on the Roof, would be a wonderful gift item for any wedding, birth, Bar Mitzvah or graduation. For those who have trouble keeping a dry eye when this song is played at weddings, good luck getting through this book! While the reader is transported to a small Jewish village of old through gorgeous, golden-tinged illustrations, the song's lyrics dance across the page, begging to be sung with a wistful smile. Ian Schoenherr's vibrant illustrations follow a young girl's journey through life as she matures, falls in love with a childhood friend, gets married and, by the last page, has her own child. The characters look a lot like the actors from the movie version, including the skinny horse and village rooftops, but one doesn't have to know the story of Tzeitel and Motel to enjoy this tribute to the Jewish cycle of life. One particularly clever theme is the use of bright yellow sunflowers ("seedlings turn overnight to sunflow'rs") that follow the children as they grow and mature. The final double page spread celebrates the joys of a loving family when the young couple observes their baby's first steps as he reaches to embrace a golden sunflower held out before him. This book would be understood by children, of course, but the adults are the ones who will be moved by its meaning. Intended for ages 6 - 8 and appropriate for all ages.
Reviewed by Lisa Silverman

We got this as part of PJ Library and LOVE it. After 10 readings I can finally finish the book without sobbing, which is good since my son had me read it twice today. A beautifully-illustrated book that does justice to a lovely song.

My little one chose this book from the preschool bookmobile. She was thrilled that it was a song and that I knew it! We have been reading it each night - she loves to point out the characters and that they are falling in love, and the father and mother and the kitty cats and the baby in the mother's "tummy." I pulled up a video clip of the movie "Fiddler" and was interested to see how close the illustrations resemble the movie versions except then again they really stand alone as illustrations without being "too" close to the motion picture. Wonderful touches, like the kittens growing up, and the sunflowers, too. So nice, we will have to get our own copy!