Reviews for A year of everyday wonders (J/Book)
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
A collage of new experiences right from the first of the year. A young girl with beige skin and straight, brown hair wakes up to the first day of the new year. Thus follows a parade of the year’s firsts—waffles, new umbrella, snowfall, fight with her brother (a recurring theme that compounds exponentially as the year goes on), and more. Klein’s simple, understated text effectively and poignantly paints a world of hilarity mixed with drama (“First crush”; “First missed bus”; “Second lost umbrella”). Shown in both vignettes and full-page art, Leng’s soft watercolor palette is punctuated by the characters’ evocative expressions that add to the emotional depth of the book. While books about the seasons are a familiar sight on shelves, this fresh twist offers young readers a glimpse of important moments in a child’s year—moments that add up to a wealth of experience and anticipation of firsts still to come. At times, the “first” motif slips slightly. These experiences are meant to occur within one year, so readers may wonder at “First giving” and “First getting” at the end of the year in winter (no birthdays?); or, for that matter, more than one mask (“First new mask”) at Halloween. However these are minor quibbles in an otherwise satisfying read. The endpapers are worth poring over, done in a scrapbook style. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.5-by-21-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.) A delightful tale that is likely to be a perennial first at storytime. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Beginning and ending with the first day of a new year, this joyous picture book celebrates all the small moments in between as experienced by a young girl in a family of four. Soft ink and watercolor spot art and spreads create warm, cozy family and school vignettes. Sometimes the girl is the subject of the illustration and sometimes she is in the background, though the text is always about her relationship to the moment. Most of the year is told in firsts -- "First wake-up," "First waffles," "First fight with your brother," "First stories" -- although there are some humorously noted "seconds" due to antics with umbrellas, haircuts, snow days, and crushes, and there are many documented fights with the brother (at least 384). Spring brings first rain, green, and short sleeves. Summer brings the first ice-cream truck and the first sunburn. Fall brings the first new teacher. The seasons of the year, the tenuous connections among firsts, and the illustrated details create a gentle story line to follow, in spite of its episodic nature. As the year comes to an end, the final pages echo the opening ones, though now the girl is experiencing "last wake-up" and "last stories" before the next new year launches a whole new collection of firsts. While there is plenty of wistful nostalgia here, there is also strong encouragement to experience and revel in the simple pleasures of each season and to welcome each new year with a clean slate. (c) Copyright 2023. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
