Whatever The Weather

All manner of people come and go in our lives daily.  Some are there for the briefest of moments.  Others are there for decades.  They bring us laughter and sadness.  They challenge us and support us.  Some dislike us for no understandable reasons.  Others, most if we are fortunate, shower us with warmth and love.

We know at an early age; everything is better together.  The positive is multiplied and the negative is halved.  If it were possible to hold sheer happiness in our hands whenever we desire, then More Than Sunny (Abrams Books for Young Readers, May 11, 2021) written and illustrated by Shelley Johannes is exactly the title necessary for this accomplishment.  This debut picture book by a beloved author illustrator (Beatrice Zinker: Upside Down Thinker) is the quintessential representation of heightened joy through shared experiences.

*knock

knock *

An older sister and the family canine companion are eager to start their day.  They wake up a younger brother, pulling him outside.  The day is sunny, early and full of birdsong.  As they move through their world, other descriptors follow them and the word sunny.

At the pond, it is muddy, and a family of ducks follows them.  As the day and season warms, the sister and dog want to explore some more.  It is humid.  What's with all the bugs?!  They are thankful for a gentle breeze and each new discovery at the pond, in the meadow, and off the dock.

When the rains come, all three still go outside, enjoying those creatures who love the rain the most.  Back home, their wetness is absorbed by a loving parent.  Spring and summer are wonderful memories as autumn leaves pile on the ground spiraling up and down in the winds. Geese formations point to the south against a darkening sky.

Heavy snowflakes fall on two extended tongues.  Pleading leads to a walk in the snow.  Silence reveals gentle wonders.  Mom, children, and their dog play until late in the day when daddy arrives.  More fun ensues.  Four angels leave an impression in the snow.  Now it is time to go.  Stories and snuggles and 

*knock

knock* 

In a reversal, one final glowing glory is displayed.

A knock at a door always holds an element of surprise and anticipation until we realize who is there.  This is a wonderful way to lead readers into the merriment of this story.  Author Shelley Johannes skillfully uses punctuation, short phrases, and rhyming to supply readers with the best each season can offer.  Here are two paired passages.

it's MUGGY . . .

AND BUGGY!

BREEZY

AND BUZZY . . .

SUMMER 

AND FUZZY!

On the front and the back, right and left, of the open dust jacket, we meet the siblings and their dog as they embrace the day.  You can see in both of the images; the brother is not initially as excited as his sister.  She is the personification of sunshine; her arms shooting up and out like rays.  On the front the brother, dog, sister, and text are varnished.

To the left, on the back, is one of the interior illustrations.  The brother, still wearing his pajamas and his yellow boots, carries his toy stuffed turtle, as his sister, holding his hand, runs out the door of their house.  Their dog leads them off the steps and outside into the yard.  The red door of their house contrasts with the pale blue of the early morning sky.

On the book case a fabulous double-page picture is presented on either side of the spine.  To the left is a close-up of the red door to their home.  The brother and sister are leaning out the opening of the door, heads back and tongues stretched to capture the first snowflakes of winter.  

These illustrations rendered

with pencil and mixed media on tracing paper and finished digitally

by artist Shelley Johannes are brimming with exuberance and pure delight.  Their size and perspective are altered to accentuate the pacing.  Every page turn yields more energy.

The details in the clothing, facial features, body postures and the settings welcome us into each visual.  The sister is so thrilled she does not have her shoes tied.  In the summer, the toys on the brother's rug in his bedroom reappear in real life.  Do you see the ladybugs, butterflies, and caterpillar?  On the stormy day, a fort is made for the dog from books and a checkerboard.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations spans two pages.  It shows the passage of time.  On the left side, a dock ends on the left.  On the right side, a dock ends on the right.  This dock is positioned near the center of the two pages.  Beneath the dock is green-blue water of a pond or lake.  Above the dock is a blue sky filled with wispy clouds.  On the left, the siblings wearing yellow life vests are leaning over the dock watching the water and their fishing lines which vanish under the surface.  On the right, their poles with the lines reeled in rest on the dock.  Now, sister and brother are on their backs, cloud gazing.  In both scenes the sister is talking.  

When you read More Than Sunny written and illustrated by Shelley Johannes, you will feel your spirit lighten.  Hopefully for many readers, the activities of the sister and brother will be a reminder of shared exhilaration or future marvels to relish.  I highly recommend this book for your personal and professional collections.  It is one to gift often.

To learn more about Shelley Johannes and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  The book trailer can be viewed here, also.  Shelley Johannes has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  The cover reveal is hosted with an interview by Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schumacher, at his site, Watch. Connect. Read.  Shelley Johannes is featured at author illustrator Jarrett Lerner's site.  Travis Jonker, teacher librarian extraordinaire, chats with Shelley Johannes on his site 100 Scope Notes at School Library Journal.  At the publisher's website there are some downloadable extra resources.  There is also a video there for you to enjoy at the publisher's website.

Wishing You The Bear-y Best In Books

By their very presence, respect is given to them by other animals.  Their size is a definite factor as is their appetite for certain foods.  That smaller versions of them have been fashioned into beloved stuffed toys for humans elevates the admiration given to them.  This esteem which they've acquired helps to make them the perfect candidate for characters in stories.

Two recent publications feature bears as a central character.  Both protagonists supply a generous dose of humor.  In the first book, a debut picture book, Soaked! (Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, July 14, 2020) written and illustrated by Abi Cushman readers along with Bear discover life can be better in the rain.

Look at this rain.
Everything is dreary.
Everything is drenched.
And no one is happy.

A badger, a bunny, a hula-hooping moose, and Bear are not happy, not happy at all.  Rain takes the delicious out of ice cream cones.  It takes the architecture out of sandcastles and the shape out of cashmere sweaters.  And Bear has great affection for ice cream cones, sandcastles, and cashmere sweaters.

Bear suggests Badger, Rabbit, and the hula-hooping moose gather in his cave.  It's much too cozy for comfort, especially with the moose's antics.  Bear's missing his blue umbrella with bumblebees on it, but strangely enough Badger found an identical umbrella she claims is her umbrella.  Bear decides to mope on a hollow log.  That's what he does until the moose flings a hula hoop into the top of a tree.

As a team they retrieve it, until with a big oops and a splash it lands around Bear's neck.  Bear is encouraged to use it.  He does but shows no enthusiasm.  He asks to be alone with the hula hoop.

Bear begins to act completely out of character.  The moose, Rabbit and Badger are inspired by his shenanigans.  It's remarkable what hula hoops, and rain can do to shift the ordinary into the extraordinary. 


Each word, each pause, each inflection spoken by Bear in this narrative has been carefully written by author Abi Cushman to generate comedy.  Bear's attitude is as blah (and sarcastic) as the wet woodlands which are assuredly in contrast to his companions who are trying to make the best of a less than perfect day. We readers know nothing is going to get Bear out of his grumpy, dumps until the perfect solution presents itself.  The twist comes at the end when Bear is Bear, through and through.  Sound effect words add to the drama and sheer fun of the story.  Here is a passage spoken with irony and sound effects from the hula-hooping Moose.

Oh yes.
Great idea. 

Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!

Doesn't feel
crowded at all
in here.

Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!


I dare you to not burst out laughing when you look at the front (right) of the open dust jacket.  The facial expression on Bear in comparison to the happy looks on Rabbit and Badger is hilarious.  He is miserable, disgusted, and grouchy.  This sets the tone of the narrative even before you open the book.  To the left (back), the moose with legs extended (balancing on one leg) is twirling three hula hoops.  Rabbit and Badger watch, standing in a puddle.  The text reads:

There is nothing funny
about this book.  Trust us.

Especially not the
Hula-Hooping moose.

On the book case, we are inside Bear's cave.  The story is completed.  These two images, on the left and right, present the back and front of Bear engaged in an activity.  On the left, with Bear's back to us, Badger and Rabbit watch and look at each other knowingly.  Sound effects are also written on the images.

Whoosh!

On the opening endpapers on a pale blue canvas are blue umbrellas with bumblebees and a bear's head handle.  All ten are in different positions.  Perhaps this is a single umbrella tumbling in the wind of a rain shower.  In the lower left-hand corner, Badger is reaching for one of the umbrellas.  On the closing endpapers, a pale yellow provides the background.  Eighteen colorful hula hoops are shown in their entirety or in portions.  On the far-right Rabbit is hula hooping.

On the title page a big drop falls from the "k" in Soaked!  It lands right on top of Bear's head featured along the bottom of the page.  These illustrations

drawn in pencil and colored digitally

by Abi Cushman span two pages or are grouped together on two pages with loads of white space.  The perspectives bring readers close to the characters to heighten the emotional impact.  Sometimes only a portion of the character is depicted.  Their facial looks and body postures are priceless.  Several images have only a few words or none, but there is no doubt as to the exact mood being conveyed.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is a double-page picture.  The sky is gray.  The rain is pouring.  From left to right sits Bear, Rabbit and Badger on the hollow log.  On the right the moose is standing on his/her front legs.  The top two are spread open and a hula hoop has just swished off the upper right-hand corner.  Bear is looking dejected.  Rabbit is watching Bear.  Badger and the moose watch the hula hoop sail away.  Behind all the animals is the word, in yellow,

Blahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh . . .


Sometimes the worst situation can bring out the best in a crabby character.  Soaked! written and illustrated by Abi Cushman with much mirth proves to readers you can have loads of contagious fun when you least expect it.  This book is a stellar selection for a one-on-one or group read aloud or for use in a themed unit on humor, bears, rain, friendship, or attitude.  You'll want this title in your professional collections and on your personal bookshelves.

To learn more about Abi Cushman and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  At her website you can download a series of ten activity sheets.  Abi Cushman has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  At Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schumacher's Watch. Connect. Read. the cover is revealed along with a conversation.  Abi Cushman has a post at author Tara Lazar's Writing for Kids (While Raising Them).  She is interviewed at author Susan Leonard Hill's site, Celebrate Picture Books, Maria Marshall's site and KidLit411.  At the publisher's website you can view the opening endpapers.




The second title, Dozens Of Doughnuts (Putnam, G. P. Putnam's Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, July 21, 2020) written by Carrie Finison with illustrations by Brianne Farley is about a doughnut-loving bear getting ready for hibernation.  Her kind heart, affection for cooking, and healthy taste for pastry become a huge problem.  Sometimes generosity has its limits, however temporary they may be.

Early one morning, as autumn leaves scatter,
LouAnn's busy stirring a big bowl of batter.

She'll eat some sweet treats, then, warm and well-fed,
she'll sleep away winter, tucked tight in her bed.

As LouAnn is about to begin consuming her freshly made dozen doughnuts, her doorbell rings.  It's Woodrow, the woodchuck.  Woodrow wants some doughnuts and LouAnn is willing to share.  Before they can begin eating, the doorbell rings again.  It's Clyde, a raccoon.  Now LouAnn has to make another dozen doughnuts.

As the trio start to chew this new dozen, the doorbell rings a third time.  It's Topsy, an opossum.  LouAnn invites her inside, but her cheerful nature is being strained as is her desire to make another dozen doughnuts.  The foursome is about to gobble down these delectable treats when . . .

DING-DONG!

Of course, LouAnn invites this latest neighbor into her home, but she's getting desperate.  She is using up the last of her doughnut-making ingredients to cook a new batch.  She still has not had a single doughnut.  As the very last dozen doughnuts come from the stove, the doorbell rings again.  LouAnn is at her wit's end . . . and her friends know it.  They hastily retreat. 

LouAnn is frazzled.  After a bit, she curls up on her floor, sad and very hungry.  Can you believe it?  The doorbell rings again. No one is more surprised than LouAnn at this story's tasty finish.


The joyful rhyming couplets invite readers into the story anticipating which words will complete the pairs.  Having the large pause before LouAnn starts to eat a doughnut, followed by the

DING-DONG!

welcomes us to participate in this tale.  A repeating phrase also works to encourage a partnership with readers.  Author Carrie Finison flawlessly blends text and dialogue designing a more personal story. Here is a passage.

One dozen doughnuts, hot from the pan.
A few for her friends, and the rest for---

DING-DONG!

"Topsy?"
"I smelled something good.  Can I hang for a while?"
LouAnn says, "Come in," but she's lost her big smile.


When you look at the open and matching dust jacket and book case, you see a very happy LouAnn carrying a dozen doughnuts followed by her neighbors, a woodchuck, a raccoon, an opossum, a skunk, and a chipmunk.  The other half of the chipmunk pair is in front of LouAnn.  The raccoon's body continues on the other side of the spine.  By placing these fully animated creatures in full color on a white and pale yellow background, they and the doughnuts draw our attention.  On the back, left, of the jacket and case, ingredients and cooking utensils are drawn in black and placed on the floor.  The text here reads:

Doughnuts are better shared.

On the opening endpapers on a yellow canvas are twenty-four different doughnuts, numbered and labeled.  They are so realistic you'll find yourself reaching out to pick one up and eat it.  On the closing endpapers only pieces and crumbs remain except for one whole doughnut.  It's number twenty-three, Old-Fashioned.  A paw is reaching to grab it. 

These images by Brianne Farley were rendered

in gouache, colored pencil, and charcoal, with some help from Photoshop.

She begins her visual interpretation on the title page.  LouAnn is standing in front of her window, holding a bowl, and stirring.  This window figures importantly in the story, foreshadowing who will arrive next.  Their tail appears in this window before the doorbell rings.

In a colorful, delightful collection of illustrations spanning two pages, edge to edge, full pages, edge to edge, and with smaller images on a single page, Brianne Farley reveals the personalities of the characters, especially that of LouAnn.  You'll find joy and growing laughter in the facial features.  Sometimes only an outline will be present for added details like the stone walls in LouAnn's home, the ingredients, cooking utensils and glasses on the table.  In several pages white space is used to excellent effect.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations spans two pages.  We are close to the characters.  From left to right they are seated on the same side of LouAnn's bright blue table.  First is Woodrow, then Clyde and then Topsy.  In front of these three are plates with three doughnuts and glasses of something to drink.  Clyde holds a chocolate chocolate doughnut in his paws.  They are all smiling.  On the right side of the gutter is LouAnn.  She also holds a doughnut in her paw.  The look on her face is oh-no-this-can't-be-happening as the doorbell rings.  In the window is a skunk's tail.


Generosity and best-laid-plans are challenged in this tale of friendship and sharing sweet treats.  Dozens Of Doughnuts written by Carrie Finison with illustrations by Brianne Farley will have you smiling, laughing out loud, sighing, and wishing you had the ingredients for making your own doughnuts.  This book is a wonderful choice for a storytime or themes on bears, companionship, cooking, doughnuts, or winter.  (I used to have a neighbor who would make doughnuts every time we had a snow day during school.)  This is a title you'll want to have in your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Carrie Finison and Brianne Farley and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their respective websites.  At Brianne Farley's site you can view a few interior images.  Carrie Finison has accounts on Instagram, and Twitter.  Brianne Farley has accounts on Instagram, and Twitter.  Carrie Finison is featured on author Tara Lazar's Writing for Kids (While Raising Them). This book is showcased at Soaring '20s High Flying Picture Book Debuts.  This title is also highlighted at Kathy Temean's Writing and Illustrating, PictureBookBuilders, and Laura Sassi Tales.  At the publisher's website you can view the opening endpapers.

Weathering The Summer

Enduring memories are made in the season of summer.  Bonds between people in families and friendships will strengthen or diminish. Perhaps it has something to do with the longer days, the heat or thunderstorms. Or maybe it's because there are variations in work, school and play schedules with vacations to be enjoyed.  Whatever the reason, seismic shifts occur which last a lifetime.

An author with the ability to see all the emotional parts of the human heart as evidenced by her first two books, One for the Murphys and Fish In A Tree has a new title.  Shouting At The Rain (Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House L L C, May 7, 2019) written by Lynda Mullaly Hunt is about learning to appreciate what you have rather than mourning what you believe you need.  You'll connect immediately with Delsie and those who truly care for her.

There are two kinds of people.  People who like surprises and people who don't.
I don't.

Yet, by the end of the first chapter, our protagonist is truly surprised.  She's always lived with her game-show-loving Grammy.  She's never thought of herself as an orphan.  By the end of chapter two, Delsie's summer friend, Brandy does not seem to be herself.  She's pulling away from those things they enjoyed together ever since they were little.

Within the next few chapters, we are introduced, during a lightning storm on the Cape, to a strange boy dressed in long black pants and a black, long-sleeved shirt, standing in the water at the beach's edge.  His name we discover is Ronan Gale, son to the new caretaker at the cottages where Delsie's grandmother cleans.  The next morning, a new girl, Tressa, is playing cards with Brandy.  Her mother works with Brandy's mother.  They are staying nearby for the summer.  Tressa has a first-class case of I'm-better-than-you-are.

More people, long-time Cape Cod friends, Aimee and Michael, and neighbors, Henry, Esme and Ruby Lasko and rough-on-the-outside but soft-on-the-inside Olive Tinselly whirl around Delsie like welcome puffs of fresh air.  All these people in Delsie's world are bound by common experiences; weekly cook-outs, wild storms, visits to Saucepan Lynn's, frequenting tag sales, clamming, whale-watching, fishing, rescuing a runaway, facing great white sharks, the summer performance at the local playhouse and running in a race.  There are hidden gems in our everyday lives as each character knows or discovers.

As this narrative of a remarkable summer comes to a close there are more surprises in store.  When stories are shared, and love flows from heart to heart acts of kindness are not random.  At the center of a circle, whether it's a hurricane or a tree framed by four houses, there is calm.  When we look down upon those houses and that tree, we will also see a light fueled by humans who've learned the greatest joy is that which we give to others.


When writing a blog post I always read the titles more than once.  In doing this I've found the written words and wonderful images offer more dimensions and reveal more perspectives.  My copy of this title by Lynda Mullaly Hunt was already peppered with sticky notes after my first read but I found myself adding more and more reminders on pages when I read it a second time. 

When you read a book by Lynda Mullaly Hunt it's as if you've opened a treasure chest filled with her warm-hearted wit and wisdom.  The thoughts and growth of her characters are realistically portrayed to the point we feel as though we are them.  She allows us to see who we want to be (and who we don't want to be).  You want to wrap up some of the conversations and carry them with you everywhere.

When reading about Delsie and each person who touches her life, we are reminded again and again how important every uttered word and completed action, large or small, and how we react to those words and actions, has value.  It shapes us.  This is the power in this book written with meticulous care by Lynda Mullaly Hunt.  Here are a few of my many marked passages.

"You be careful, now," she says, and she kisses her palm and pretends to blow it in my direction.  Since I was little, I've always play-slapped my own face as if getting hit with kisses.  But I can't manage it today.
On the beach I walk at the water's edge, watching small stones roll back and forth with the waves.  The same way Aimee's orphan question rolls back and forth in my head.

"Well, then," I ask, stepping forward.  "Why did she go?  Tell me the truth about my mom."
"Oh, Delsie.  Why do you want to talk about all that?  There's no reason to stir up sad things."
"I know you don't like to talk about her, but I don't understand why."
"The same reason I don't drink coffee," Grammy says.  "Because it hurts my stomach and makes me feel all terrible inside, and why would I do anything that makes me feel like that?"

"She laughs a bit.  "It isn't the tea, Delsie.  It's that tea is so often shared.  That's when friends lean forward and look each other in the eye.  They laugh.  They do more than hear; they listen.  They connect, and anything that matters in this whole . . . wide . . . world is about connection.  It's what makes all the hard stuff I talk about bearable."

She whips her head around.  "I'd sooner paddle out to that storm in a metal skiff with a flagpole strapped to my back than leave you here to watch such a thing."

I guess some friends are just glitter, and some friends are glue.


You'll laugh out loud and you'll cry.  Your soul will be brimming with the wonder of the compassion found in the truest hearts of these characters.  Shouting At The Rain written by Lynda Mullaly Hunt is a book to hold close.  We can't change the weather, but we can be prepared, even if it surprises us.  We are prepared through the strength of those who love us and those we love.  I highly recommend this title for your professional and personal book collections.  It will make for a marvelous read aloud or book club selection.

To discover more about Lynda Mullaly Hunt and her other work, please visit her website (and blog) by following the link attached to her name.  Lynda maintains accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can read an excerpt.  John Schumacher, Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, premieres the book trailer on his blog, Watch. Connect. Read.  Lynda Mullaly Hunt visits the Nerdy Book Club for the cover reveal, It's All in the Names and A Living Breathing Ronan Gale.  Lynda Mullaly Hunt is featured at Publishers Weekly in an interview.

No Matter The Weather

You're walking back to your car after a quick stop to purchase a few items.  Suddenly the voice, growing more persistent of late, tells you to stop and look up. (Read Now by Antoinette Portis and you'll know what I mean.)  This is why on a blazing hot afternoon on the first day of August you find yourself taking pictures of clouds with your phone while standing in the parking lot of a big box store.  You hope with all your heart, they are a prelude to much-needed rain.
 

Rain will soften the ground, hard as cement.  Rain will ease the stress of the wild animals needing to quench their thirst.  Rain will help the towering trees whose leaves are drifting down far too early for lack of water.  This Beautiful Day (A Caitlyn Dlouhy Book, Atheneum Books For Young Readers, August 1, 2017) written by Richard Jackson with illustrations by Suzy Lee reminds us of the magic to be found in a joyful heart with a little help from music.

THIS beautiful day...

Three siblings are lounging inside on a dreary rainy day with their dog accompanying them.  Clearly they are at a loss of what to do when one of them reaches to a radio twisting the dial for a bit of music.  He then leans forward in his bean bag chair arms raised and ready.  Before you can say let's dance, they are twirling and turning to the tune.

Hats and umbrellas are grabbed as the trio opens the doors and continues to lift their legs and gallop to the beat.  To them this day is filled with possibilities as they splish and splash through puddles, hooting and hollering with glee.  Certainly all the fun they are having is sure to draw the attention of others.  And it does.

Other neighborhood children carrying colorful umbrellas follow the lead of the brother and his sisters.  All the celebratory noise they make gets the attention of the sun.  It pushes the clouds away.

Eight children and one dog are cheering, laughing and playing as if this is the best day of their lives.  And isn't this the way to live?  They all tumble home, for snacks and a little bit of relaxing.  Come on Mom!  Join the jamboree!

Oh, the uninhibited elation these words written by Richard Jackson generate for readers.  His use of this beautiful day repeatedly ties his happy-go-lucky verbs together in an uplifting tempo.  To complete his symphony of delight lines end in rhyming words. Here is a continuation of the first line.

has everyone dancing

and spinning

and swinging around,

has all of us stamping

and stomping

our feet 

on the ground. ...

When you open the dust jacket, which matches the book case, you will be thrilled to notice that Suzy Lee continues the image on the front to the edge of the flap.  There we read the words:

COME ON IN,

the weather's

fine!

To the left, on the back, two of the siblings and the dog are leaping into the air as clouds scatter on a blue sky.  A single red umbrella drifts toward the right hand corner.  The opening endpapers are black, gray and white.  Rain pours from smudgy rain clouds.  On the closing endpapers the ending of the story continues.

With a page turn from the opening endpapers Suzy Lee starts the story opposite the title page.  The younger sister sits in a cardboard box staring out the window at the rain.  The older sister is slumped in boredom in front of a sketch pad and crayons.  This is done in black and white as is the first wordless image opposite the verso.  The dog sleeps in front of the French doors as the brother turns on the radio.

All of the illustrations span two pages.  As the children begin to dance the color blue is added to the black, gray and white.  The more fun they have, the more blue there is with pale green appearing.  As the clouds vanish more color is used.  

The depiction of the children, their facial expressions and body movements, is marvelous to the point you will find yourself wanting to join them.  Every single line and brush stroke is pulsing with pure jubilation.  When the umbrellas rise into the sky it's as if they are moved by this wonderful emotion.  

One of my many favorite illustrations I will let you discover for yourselves.  Suzy Lee takes us into a brief bit of suspended reality, a touch of magic.  Another of my favorite pictures is when the three siblings are splashing in the puddles.  The two older ones with the dog in the middle are jumping with total merriment, laughing and holding their umbrellas high.  Behind them the younger sister is marching and kicking out water in front of her as she holds her umbrella.  The dog is standing on its hind legs, leaping with its head raised, ears flapping and front paws close to its chest.  There is not a single person who can look at this without smiling.

This book, This Beautiful Day written by Richard Jackson with illustrations by Suzy Lee, is bursting with energy.  Readers will not be able to sit still when reading or listening to this.  Be ready to dance, rain or shine.  You will want to have a copy of this on your professional and personal bookshelves.  You have to read it...repeatedly.

To learn more about Suzy Lee and her other work please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images. Please enjoy this interview with Richard Jackson at Bookology.  Author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson features Suzy Lee on her blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.