Review by Booklist Review
What does summer mean? Morning light at waking up, the feel of grass underfoot, picnics, splash pools, and fireflies. From Fireman Small (1994) onward, Yee has shown a gift for small, quiet picture-book plots, and in this title, too, there is no loud, comic story with a ZOWIE! wrap-up. Instead, Yee focuses his attention on details as a small child might see them. For example, the guests at the picnic include black ants marching one by one. While Yee's summer is not so realistic as to include mosquitoes, his warm world is believable and beckoning, and children will want to revisit each page with pleasure, even by themselves. For younger children than Julie Fogliano's And Then It's Spring (2012) speaks to, this lovely title also shows the natural world from a child's viewpoint.--Russell, Mary Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
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 (c) Copyright 2012. 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 morning ("As cat naps in a patch of sun, / My summer day has just begun!") to night ("Summer nights, moonlit skies, / Winking, blinking fireflies"), the young Asian American girl who explored winter in Yee's Tracks in the Snow (rev. 11/03) and spring in Who Likes Rain? (rev. 3/07) celebrates summertime. In the previous books, she wondered, respectively, about whose tracks were in the snow and what kind of animals like rain; this time her questions refer to various insects and animals, including a bumblebee, ants, and an owl. Here, the narrative and art offer less of a guessing game for young viewers, but the story will still draw them in, as the girl heads outside with a butterfly net, enjoys cold lemonade, jumps into a little pool, has an evening picnic in the park with her parents, then takes a nighttime walk before bed. As in the earlier books, the colored-pencil art outshines the occasionally awkward rhyming text; meticulously layered and blended colors in grainy textures convey both the warmth of summer sunshine and the coolness of shade beneath trees. Fans of these books will no doubt look forward to a story about fall, and -- since Mom appears to be expecting a baby -- a sibling with whom the little girl can share her love of the seasons. jennifer m. brabander (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
