Review by Booklist Review
Raschka delivers a poignant yet uplifting meditation here on how quickly beauty blooms and passes. His subject is that famously short-lived flower, the daylily, which, as the first panel shows, blooms with the sun and closes with the moon. Raschka takes a week's worth of gaily colored daylilies, stating day by day whom they bloom for, starting with Monday's lily, which blooms for the baby. The tone is melancholy at first, moving from "Poor lily. Gone so soon" to "We are all like lilies." The uplift comes with the realization that lilies live on in memory, as do friends, and that we can all bloom for others while we're here. The watercolor art provides gorgeous showcases for the daylilies and is filled with appealing drawings of a cat and kitten, a duck, a tortoise, rabbits, and dragonflies, all of which "come and go," rendered graphically by showing the creatures facing us and then turned away from us. The text, consisting of simple, cursive-like letters, is spare, creating the effect of stanzas in a poem. Moving.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Watercolor lilies, which each "bloom/ for just/ one day," blossom for varied subjects across a week's time in these spring rhymes addressed to "pretty lily." Establishing the short lifespan of the genus ("You open in the sun,/ and close at the moon,/ and your lily life is done"), prayerlike lines proceed day by day. Monday's flower blooms for a rabbit infant, Tuesday's "for the cat," and onward through Sunday. Creamy pages form the backdrop to the naif-style florals washed in sunny reds, yellows, oranges, and blues, while docile-seeming garden creatures, including a turtle, duck, and bunny, look on. When closing pages draw a connection between lilies and people ("Just like lilies,/ we come and we go"), they lend a gravitas that resounds long after Raschka's tender concluding plea: "Precious lily,// bloom for me." Ages 4--8. (Feb.)
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Review by Horn Book Review
Brushy watercolors in sunny pastel tones illustrate a meditation on change in the form of a paean to the daylily. Raschka's big blue text (which looks hand-lettered) guides readers through the rhyme: "Monday's lily / blooms // for the baby. // Tuesday's lily blooms / for the cat. // Wednesday's lily blooms for Mommy. / Thursday's lily blooms // just like that." Each double-page spread zooms in on a lily in bloom; viewers will notice that yesterday's shriveled-up blossom droops from a different stem in nearly every composition, emphasizing the flowers' evanescence. Bugs, rabbits (one "the baby," the other "Mommy"), a gray tabby, a turtle, and other critters happily explore the greenery surrounding the lilies. In structure and rhythm, Raschka's verse recalls the nursery rhyme "Monday's Child," but its intent is far lighter (nobody is "full of woe" here) and less deterministic. "Sunday's lily blooms for her and him," we learn, and "Tomorrow's lily blooms for them"; readers are free to interpret this in multiple ways, including as an affirmation of gender diversity. Likewise, lines that address lilies' mortality do not dwell on death but touch on coming and going, and on lasting memories. Even as the verses' focus expands, the illustrations never lose their gentle sweetness, with the bugs, ants, and butterflies that inhabit this garden providing visual counterpoint. Whether read literally or metaphorically, this lilting ode gifts little ones a dollop of seasonal sunlight. Vicky SmithJanuary/February 2024 p.83 (c) Copyright 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.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The fleeting loveliness of the lily is celebrated in this paean to impermanence. "Pretty lily. You bloom for just one day." An exceedingly simple text introduces young readers to a flower with an all too brief life. Like an herbaceous mayfly, Raschka's daylilies have only 24 hours to present their blooms. "Monday's lily blooms for the baby"; the accompanying image depicts a little rabbit huddled beneath the flower. "Tuesday's lily blooms for the cat"; a feline cuddles up to a splendid pink blossom. Each day reveals a new lily and whom it blooms for, whether it's a mother, friends, or no one at all. As Raschka is quick to note, "We're all like lilies. We bloom for others." While the sunny watercolor art may be full of adorable duckies and kitties, a serious undercurrent is at work. To underline this idea, Raschka carefully includes images of the wilted blossoms that have already had their day in the sun. The rhymes may take some practice to read aloud properly, but it's easy to appreciate the rare book where life's impermanence is presented alongside a lesson on something as basic as the days of the week. Brave to its core, this is a book unafraid to ask for whom will you bloom during your one wild and precious life. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
