All in a Day

January 19, 2009
McClure's (Collect Raindrops
) illustrations draw most of the attention here. Using an X-Acto knife and black paper, McClure suggests textures as varied as pea-plant tendrils, falling rain and the softness of a mother's body. “A day is a perfect piece of time/ to live a life,/ to plant a seed,” Newbery Medalist Rylant (When I Was Young in the Mountains
) begins, as a young farm boy ties one shoelace and a hen pecks at the other. In spreads on alternating blue and yellow backgrounds, the boy waters his garden and gathers eggs, but also picnics, naps and, along with his mother and the hen, stretches out on his back to gaze up at the sky. End-on perspective makes their feet, noses and the hen's body the only topographical features protruding from the curve of the horizon. “Underneath that great big sky/ the earth is all a-spin./ This day will soon be over/ and it won't come back again,” Rylant writes. While children aren't usually moved by messages about fleeting time—that's a sentiment adults are likelier to have—they'll enjoy Rylant's rhythms and the tenderness of McClure's images. Ages 4–up.

May 1, 2009
K-Gr 4-This picture-book poem discusses the many things that can be done in a day: plant a seed, make a wish, live a life. The illustrations were each cut from a single piece of black paper using an X-Acto knife. They incorporate white spaces and play against yellow and blue backgrounds. Astonishingly detailed, the artwork evokes the feel of classic 1940s and '50s picture books. The large spreads show a boy exploring nature on his family's farm, napping in a hammock with his mother, and hiking in the woods with his father. They successfully capture the magical childhood sense that a day can go on forever. There's no denying the simple loveliness of Rylant's text in lines like "The past is sailing off to sea, /the future's fast asleep," but ultimately, the poem's "seize the day" message may be better appreciated by adults than children."Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 1, 2009
Preschool-G *Starred Review* The word lovely gets tossed around, but it seems to fit both the words and the art of this ode to the day. Rylant, whose talent has many sides, here turns to her inner poet as she asks children to look at a day in new ways: a perfect piece of time to live a life, /to plant a seed. As she takes readers through the day of a farm boy who feeds his chickens and checks his plants, she reminds childrenthat aday can bring hope and kindness: You can make a wish, / and start again. And while a day might bring rain, that very shower couldteach you how to dance. Shetells children what even adults should always keep in mind: The past is sailing off to sea, / the futures fast asleep. / A day is all you have to be, / its all you get to keep. Matching Rylants warm words is McClures amazing artwork.At first glance, the bold figures in black and white set againstpure gold or sky-blue backgrounds seem to be woodcuts, butthey areactuallya sturdier variant ofcut paper. IfMcClure makes a mistake, she notes, she just has to keep cutting and find a solution. Perhaps there were mistakes along the way, but viewers wouldnt ever know it, andthe finished product is a handsome, effectivepiece of bookmaking that captures the glory of a day and the possibilities it holds.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2009
"A day is a perfect piece of time / to live a life, / to plant a seed, / to watch the sun go by." Striking black-and-white cut-paper illustrations against alternating yellow or blue backgrounds follow a farm boy throughout his day. Rylant's graceful text about the possibilities each day holds encourages readers to "live it well, make it count."

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)