Is Was

April 1, 2021
This meditation on the fleeting nature of time explores themes of impermanence in nature. The story opens with a glimpse of a sky "that was blue, / but now is // spilling down." Readers then see rain falling, with the words is is is in a fluid blue display type mingling with the raindrops, followed by a spread with three puddles, each accompanied by a similar was, and a thirsty chipmunk and bird eager for a drink. Now that "rain that was drips / is for sips / and song." As the story continues, the spare text flowing like poetry and the illustrations extending the lyrical musings in concrete ways, readers spend their time with creatures in nature--including a human family (presenting White) that appears at the end--and with a breathtaking instance of blithe, vividly colored sunflowers on display. In one particularly effective spread featuring a vast and sunny pale blue sky, a child swings, the arc of the movement shifting from is to was repeatedly. The tone briefly shifts from wondrous and meditative to exhilarating when a chipmunk manages to escape the talons of a hungry owl. ("A shadow is" but, fortunately for the chipmunk, becomes past tense.) The narrative, infused with a tenderness that avoids preciosity, is a contemplative, thought-provoking one and will prompt children to think about the here and the now--and how quickly such a thing becomes memory. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.) An experience that is, and always will be, memorable. (Picture book. 4-10)

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