Yellow Time

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Yellow Time
Author:
Series: Holidays & Seasons, Fall
Genres: Juvenile Fiction, Picture Books
Tags: Ages 3-5, Ages 5-8
ASIN: 1481431560
ISBN: 1481431560

Yellow Time

Children and animals alike excitedly anticipate yellow time, when the trees release their colorful leaves to blanket the eart...

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About the Book

Yellow Time

Lauren Stringer celebrates the coming of autumn in this exuberant, joyful ode to that magical time when the leaves are changing color and the animals are preparing for winter.

Children and animals alike excitedly anticipate yellow time, when the trees release their colorful leaves to blanket the earth, crows raise their voices joyfully from the bare branches, and squirrels busy themselves preparing their nests for winter. This lyrical celebration of the beauty and fun of autumn is sure to become a perennial fall favorite.

About the Author:

Lauren Stringer is an artist, author, and theatrical designer living in Minneapolis, MN. Her first illustrated picture book won a Minnesota Book Award, IRA Children’s Choice, and Crayola Kids Best Book of the Year. She has illustrated many award-winning picture books,  Snow by Cynthia Rylant. Her newest book, When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky, Two Artists, Their Ballet, and One Extraordinary Riot, was awarded the McKnight Fellowship for Children’s Literature. Visit her website here.

A Few Reviews:

Autumnal bliss is at the heart of this poetic celebration of yellow foliage.”Yellow time comes / before white time. / Every time.” Watercolor-and-acrylic paintings are as invested in depicting the swirling motion of wind-swept clouds as they are in glorying in the yellow leaves that eventually fall from trees. The flap copy says that Stringer was inspired to write her text after seeing a grove of ash trees turn a brilliant shade of yellow in the fall, and this helps explain the monochromatic vision of autumn, devoid of oranges, reds, and browns, that fills the spreads. From page to page, a multiracial cast of children delights in the autumnal splendor, leaving their houses to cavort in the swirling, falling leaves together. A pet dog and cat, wild squirrels, and an abundance of black crows join in the revelry, their colors peppered across spreads dominated by a washing of golden yellows. The satisfying, bookish conclusion depicts siblings pressing leaves “in thick books to remember… / what a lovely yellow time it was.” Lovely, indeed. – Kirkus Reviews 

Stringer re-creates those last days of autumn when the trees are no longer putting on a fiery show of colors and the leaves are one gusty day away from shuddering to the ground. Short, declarative, yet lyrical sentences set the stage (“The squirrels are too busy to notice, and the geese have already gone.”). Stringer continues to remind readers of the sounds (“Crows love yellow time. They fill still-leafy trees with their voices announcing its coming…”) and the smells (“wet mud and dry grass with a sprinkle of sugar”) of autumn and discusses the changing of the seasons (“Yellow time comes before white time. Every time.”). When the wind begins, everyone is ready: the trees, the children, the crows, and even the busy squirrels that use the fallen leaves for their lofty nests. The watercolor and acrylic illustrations, subtly reminiscent of Lois Lenski’s work, are full of movement and emotion. Stringer’s rendering of the autumn landscape and its diverse inhabitants, round faces lifted to the sky, remind readers of a moment in time. VERDICT This gorgeous picture book is a fine addition to seasonal and classroom collections, but it stands alone for its language and deft artwork. A lovely, evocative read-aloud. – School Library Journal


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