What Is the Sun? - Softcover

Lindbergh, Reeve

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1564026094 ISBN 13: 9781564026095

Publisher: Candlewick, 1996

Synopsis

As a grandmother tucks her grandson into bed, she quietly answers his questions about nature in rhyme

About this title

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1-As he gets ready for bed, a young boy asks his grandmother questions about the sun, moon, wind, and rain. Her simple, rhyming answers appear in italics beneath or beside his queries. Lambert sets small, white-framed scenes of the woman and her grandson within double spreads of the child and his large dog experiencing the joy of being outdoors in all seasons. The soft pastel cartoon drawings have an impressionistic look. The pieces of the fanciful mobile (sun, moon, stars, cloud, and rainbow) above the boy's bed are juxtaposed with their real counterparts, and the boy is shown blasting off into space and deep-sea diving as well as engaging in more realistic play. Because the illustrations vacillate between reality and fantasy, this attempt to provide simple and truthful answers to common childhood questions suffers from a lack of focus. Constantly changing perspectives add to the confusion. Better choices are Ellen Kandoian's Under the Sun (Dodd, 1987; o.p.) or Charlotte Zolotow's When the Wind Stops (HarperCollins, 1975; o.p.).
Marianne Saccardi, Whitby School American Montessori Center, Greenwich, CT
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly

"Parents enduring the 'why' stage of child development will appreciate this poetic, serenely illustrated explanation of the sun and other natural wonders," said PW about this bedtime story. Ages 3-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 1564026094
• ISBN 13: 9781564026095
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Lambert Stephen