Summer Days and Nights

March 12, 2012
This lilting picture book stars the same winsome heroine as Yee’s previous seasonal outings, Who Likes Rain? and Tracks in the Snow. Nostalgic and old-fashioned, it envisions a place where a child can tiptoe through a meadow of daisies, observe insects, hear a mouse rustle, and spot a barn owl in a tree. The first-person narrative nicely encourages readers to discover these natural treasures along with the main character: “Buzz-buzz-buzz!/ What’s this I see?/ A black-and-yellow bumblebee!” Yee’s hazy and delicate colored pencil illustrations are gemlike (a quality enhanced by the book’s small trim size) and suffused with the warm light of summer. A dazzling yet quiet introduction to the world of nature experienced by an inquisitive toddler. Ages 2–6.

July 1, 2012

PreS-Gr 1-This companion to Tracks in the Snow (2003) and Who Likes Rain? (2007, both Holt) continues the story of an Asian girl's exploration of the seasons. Youngsters will relate to the concrete, sensory images of the simple, rhyming text told in the child's voice. The soft-focus colored-pencil illustrations capture the universal pleasures of summer. A knowing balance is depicted between those activities that the child can independently enjoy (catching butterflies, sipping cool lemonade, listening at her window to the night sounds) and those that require a modicum of parental involvement and reassurance (filling up the splashing pool, playing hide-and-seek after a picnic supper in the park, listening to nocturnal hoots and noises out of doors). The layout varies pleasingly from portraitlike vignettes to spot art surrounded by white space to full-page bleeds, all encased in a small trim size just right for small hands. This understated gem is equally perfect for a storyhour or a cozy bedtime tale that will inspire summertime dreamers.-Kathleen Finn, St. Francis Xavier School, Winooski, VT

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.