Summer Song
by Kevin Henkes (Author) Laura Dronzek (Illustrator)
From Caldecott Medalist and Newbery Honor author Kevin Henkes and acclaimed painter Laura Dronzek,
This picture book about summer celebrates the sights, sounds, and smells of the season. Bees buzz, birds sing, and children roll in the grass and feel the heat of the summer sun. With striking verbal imagery, repetition, and alliteration, Kevin Henkes introduces basic concepts of language and the summer season. Laura Dronzek's glowing paintings beautifully illustrate the wonders of summer.
This is an engaging seasonal companion to the bestselling When Spring Comes, In the Middle of Fall, and Winter Is Here, Ideal for introducing the season, for story time, and for bedtime reading.--School Library Journal (starred review)
Locate at a Library Near You WorldCat is the world's largest library catalog, helping you find library materials online.
Find books about:
Kirkus Reviews
Henkes and Dronzek evoke the sights, sounds, and joys of summer, completing their celebratory seasonal quartet.
Captivating poetic text begins like a stream of consciousness: “The Summer sun is a giant flower, / and the flowers are like little suns. / Little suns of all different colors.” Brilliantly woven together, these accessible and seemingly simple similes and metaphors form a vibrant and sophisticated ode to nature. Readers will drink in the delicious cool shade, feel the sweltering sun, and revel in the lush green garden. Henkes hears summer’s song everywhere—in the wind through the grass, the birds in the sky, and the oceans and lakes. Onomatopoeia fills the air with the sounds of bees and dragonflies, juxtaposed with the silence of the glowing firefly. Uncomplicated acrylic paintings done in a primary palette will appeal to young animal lovers. Deeply saturated blues and greens capture the essence of the season, Dronzek’s characteristically firm black outlines helping animals, flowers, birds, insects, and humans pop. A multiracial cast of kids tend pets, cool off in the sprinkler, play in the sand, and watch clouds. As the season wanes, there’s delicious anticipation for autumn’s change. This lovely read-aloud will be savored, just like a summer’s day.
Captures the magic of childhood summers, when colors are a song and a backyard can sing the wonders of the world. (Picture book. 3-8)Publishers Weekly
Married team Henkes and Dronzek (When Spring Comes) complete their seasonal quartet with an homage to summer. Henkes explores the pleasures of the senses with dreamy, childlike lines: "In the shade it can be cool, or when you play with the hose." The season is rich in sounds: singing birds and electric fans, blowing grasses and clamoring insects. Overall, Henkes muses, "Summer is a green song"; his thought is accompanied by a painting of a frog whose lily pad resting place, the blossoms nearby, the pond water beneath them, and the willow above are all shades of jewel-like green. "If you slow down and think about it," song and feeling can blend together: "It's warm/ And then hot/ and then hotter." And sometimes the boundaries between sound and sight blur, as when an inclusive child group finds fireflies at night: "They're singing to each other without a sound." Dronzek's bold black outlines and simple features give her figures a cozy, toylike look, while Henkes's simple, evocative words encourage readers to look and listen for layered wonder in summer's freedom. Ages 4-8. (Apr.)
Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 2--Have you ever noticed that everything in the summer sounds like music? Have you ever noticed that everything in the summer seems more green? Summer songs are wind in the grass, sprinklers on the lawn, birds in the sky, and thunder during a late afternoon storm. The bees, dragonflies, crickets, and butterflies also play their notes. The creators of Winter Is Here, When Spring Comes, and In The Middle of Fall, are back with the final installment of the seasons series. A lyrical text pairs perfectly with bright illustrations in this wonderful read-aloud. VERDICT A must purchase to round out the seasonal quartet, for storytime or sharing one on one.--Elizabeth Blake, Fields Corner Library, Dorchester, MA
Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
JUV029010 - Juvenile Fiction | Nature & the Natural World | Environment
Colors
Summer
