Review by Booklist Review
PreS-K. On the bright cover, a black girl and a white girl, together on a swing, smile at each other while their brothers fly kites in a cloudless blue sky. The lovely image sets the tone for this picture-book celebration of friends having fun in the summer. The watercolor illustrations show the kids playing hide-and-seek, watching baseball (even in the rain), cavorting at the beach, and more. The sophisticated poet Gertrude Stein's famous line, A rose is a rose is a rose, is quoted on the frontispiece, and her very simple words are echoed in the book's chanting text (A bee is a bee is a bee. / A tree is a tree is a tree ). The simple, joyful sounds and sunny artwork will appeal to young listeners. --Hazel Rochman Copyright 2006 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-In a book that echoes not only Gertrude Stein's "A rose is a rose is a rose" (quoted on the dedication page) but also the languorous feeling of summer, four friends spend their time enjoying outdoor activities. From cloud watching and exploring to a carnival and a baseball game to sneezing during a walk through a field, the youngsters engage in a celebration of the season. The rhyming text is bouncy and brief and captures the exhilaration of this time of year with its seemingly endless days and opportunities for fun. ("A rose is a rose/And everything grows-/When summer is summer is summer./A bee is a bee is a bee./A tree is a tree is a tree./Cool in the shade,/Pink lemonade-/Summer is summer is summer"). Whimsical watercolor illustrations feature a dreamy world of fantasy and reality, with layered perspectives and strong patterns that undulate across the spreads. The pages are saturated with color, as vivid hues evoke the lush greenery, the dazzling blue skies, and the warm shades of the children's clothing. The youngsters, who are from different ethnic backgrounds, have round, animated faces that shine with contentment. This offering is perfect for one-on-one sharing and for early readers, who will delight in the scenes of summer.-Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha's Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
From sipping lemonade under a tree to playing at the beach to catching fireflies at night, four friends revel in the joys and wonder of summer. Although the text has a pleasant rhythm, some of the couplets are dull. The cheery illustrations carry the story and have some clever details. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Gertrude Stein's "A rose is a rose is a rose" serves as the poetic structure for this somewhat surrealistic examination of summer's pleasures. Two brother and sister pairs explore a variety of summertime activities: playing near a creek and a beach, attending a baseball game, visiting an amusement park at night. The short, rhyming text introduces paired elements that convey the sights and sounds and tastes of summer, from pink lemonade sipped under a tree in the heat of the day to ice-cream cones on the front porch in the evening. Though the summer activities are traditional, Blackall's watercolor illustrations add a more modern slant, with an enormous rose as tall as a tree as the beginning and ending images. The two girls on the cover illustration are enjoying an old-fashioned swing with a wooden seat, but they are swinging higher than the kites that their brothers are flying, conveying the magical quality of childhood's sunny summer days. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
