Starred review from February 12, 2024
A dark-skinned Black protagonist embraces summer via a litany of seasonal activities in this experiential first-person ode. Waking to the sun beaming through a bedroom window, the young narrator describes the orb “waking me up with her light./ Her sunrays tickle me.” As the day progresses, summer reveals its pleasures through summer fruits (“fat mangoes, bursting with juice/ deep-red strawberries that stain my hands”), pool time with friends (“Our bright swimsuits float... like lily pads”), a game of double Dutch, and a community cookout “under trees full of leaves to shade us.” Jackson (The Twelve Hours of Christmas) employs bright light and sunlit hues to capture the ease and lengthy rhythms of an enjoyable summer’s day, while sensate prose from Watson (Maya’s Song) leads beat-by-beat to group play with water balloons and bubbles, a summer song from the ice-cream truck, and, after bedtime, an earnest desire offered from an open window: “I wish summer would stay.” It’s a yearning celebration of a fleeting season that, like “gigantic bubbles that hang on to my wand,” floats “away, gone, gone, gone.” Background characters are portrayed with various body types and skin tones. Ages 3–6.
April 1, 2024
Newbery Honor-winning author Watson offers an ode to the pleasures of a summer day. Sun streams through an open window as a young Black child awakens. "No dark clouds in the sky," the protagonist declares; "it's a perfect day for play." First, the child devours an overflowing bowl of strawberries, blackberries, and mangoes until "I'm full, full, full." Over the course of the day, the child swims with a diverse group of friends in a backyard pool, joins a game of double Dutch, and savors the delicious smells emanating from the sizzling grill during a family picnic at a lakeside park. The young narrator enjoys sweet treats from the ice cream truck and blows bubbles with friends as the sun sets. Back at home, the protagonist reflects on the day with gratitude and gazes up at a star: "I wish summer would stay." Watson's verse exudes a sense of perpetual motion as the protagonist wrings maximal delight out of the day. The author's deft use of personification will charm readers: Summer "tiptoes into my room," "brings me gardens, overflowing," and "sings me a song, serenading me from the ice-cream truck." The protagonist's affection for family and friends is evident in Jackson's opalescent, realistic digital illustrations, which brim with detail and portray many different body types among children and adults alike. An utterly immersive celebration of the boundless joys of summer--may they never end! (Picture book. 3-7)
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May 1, 2024
Preschool-Grade 1 Just about everything readers could wish for from a summer day is included in Watson's charming tale of a day in the life of a girl among her friends and family. Summer is personified as "she tiptoes into my room, waking me up with her light." From sunup until sundown, Summer offers the ideal day, which includes activities such as blowing bubbles, a picnic in the park, swimming, jumping rope, and a cone from the ice cream truck. Charming digital illustrations are beautifully supplemented with pastel, oil paint, and watercolor brushes for enhanced texture. The text and pictures are a feast for the senses: sights (a clear, blue, cloudless sky and colorful swimsuits), sounds (the ""tap, tap, tap"" of the jump rope and the "sizzle, sizzle, sizzle" of food on the grill), smells (fresh-cut grass and gardens), taste (strawberries, blackberries, mangoes, and ice cream), and feel (cool water in the pool and the sun's warmth). The images depict children and adults coming together to enjoy and make the most of a perfect summer day.
COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Starred review from July 12, 2024
PreS-Gr 2-Celebrate the endless joys and traditions of summer in this uplifting and jubilant ode to the season. An unnamed Black protagonist welcomes the perfect summer day from the moment she wakes up to the sun streaming through her windows, followed by a meal of delicious fresh fruit enjoyed alongside her family. The young girl then dives into a sparkling pool with friends and enjoys a round of double Dutch before concluding with a spectacular community picnic and a wish for summer to stay forever. Watson personifies summer throughout the charming story, noting that the season, "brings me a feast of fresh fruit," "brings me and my friends to the pool," and, "sings me a song, serenading me from the ice-cream truck." Jackson's bright, digital illustrations capture the loving relationship the protagonist shares with her friends, family, and community along with the bliss and elation of a cloudless summer day. VERDICT The stunning combination of Watson's poetic text with Jackson's delightful illustrations make this an ideal selection for both group read-alouds and one-on-one sharing. Highly recommended for purchase for all collections.-Olivia Gorecke
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