  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 06/01/2017 PreS-Gr 1—A dark and stormy morning cannot dampen the spirits of three siblings in this ode to summer weather. The day begins with a song, a dance, and a skip as the kids splash through puddles and march through the neighborhood with friends. As the sky clears, the children delight in doing what children do: playing outdoors, expending energy, and reveling in the opportunity to freely enjoy the pleasures of the day. "This beautiful day…/so great for parading,/for cartwheeling fun/or hiding/and seeking/or gliding/and sliding/in this marigold sun." Jackson's spare poetic text expresses the many ways that spirited children play, while Lee's marvelous pencil and acrylic illustrations adroitly create a sense of space, air, energy, and joy as the day progresses from gray to glorious. These children feel real, drawn with loose, sketchy lines that deftly depict movement and exuberance, with expressions to match. Finally, it's time to sit down on a camp chair with a Popsicle. Who could ask for a more beautiful day? VERDICT An absolutely perfect book for summer read-alouds and interactive sharing.—Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library - Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 06/01/2017 A day can be beautiful, no matter what the weather. Stormy skies might keep three kids inside for a while, but eventually play and imagination overrides any hesitancy to go out. Besides, what could be more fun than singing and jumping in puddles? The soggy fun attracts more kids from the neighborhood and, as the skies clear, umbrellas become opportunities for a new kind of fun in the trees and skies. As the sun dries the puddles and warms the air, Popsicles enjoyed with family puts a delicious end to a most beautiful afternoon. The joy found in simple pleasures is captured perfectly through the spare but joyous text and elegant pencil-and-acrylic drawings. Rendered in high-contrast black and white at the beginning, they slowly incorporate more color as the day progresses, eventually bursting with the greens and blues of a hot summer day. Unfussy, evocative, and full of enthusiasm, this picture book will remind readers of all ages of the immense satisfaction that can be experienced through the simplest pleasures of daily life. - Copyright 2017 Booklist. Loading...
 |