Now Soon Later

"Following a little girl from sunrise to bedtime, this picture book shows the meanings of now, soon, and later....The artwork is fresh and charming....Young children will enjoy the depiction of simple, familiar activities while they learn from the book's concrete presentation of time concepts."--Booklist.

PreS?Revolving around the concepts of now, soon, and later, this book uses simple, sunny illustrations to help readers see that everything happens in due time and in logical sequence. Each turn of the page shows a child's day from waking up to playing, naptime, dinner, bath, and bed. An idea is introduced on each spread and then shown in three successive panels, e.g., "NOW Mommy is busy. SOON Mommy will be finished. LATER you and Mommy can play." The clear pen-and-ink, watercolor, and colored-pencil illustrations, done in soothing, natural tones, help create a calm, easy-going atmosphere. This well-rounded title offers an ideal world that emphasizes the positive aspects of the passage of time. Children can certainly benefit from such a positive attitude.?Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This gentle book is a wonderful tool to teach young children not only the concept of how time passes, but also the rewards of delayed gratification. Each of 10 spreads shows a girl and her parents in three related vignettes set "now," "soon" and "later." Time here is indeed relative; one series of vignettes may span an entire day (morning, afternoon, night), while another demonstrates how the idea of now, soon and later plays out over just a few hours. One spread, for example, starts with the girl at the foot of a playground slide and reads, "Now you will have to wait." The middle illustration shows her at the top of the slide: "Soon you will be next in line." In the final illustration, she is sliding down as the text explains, "Later it will be your turn, and the others will wait for you." Johnson's characters never lose their serene, almost Buddha-like demeanor; everyone here behaves prettily as a picture. Even without dramatic conflicts, the illustrations skillfully drive the book, offering an inviting mix of sunniness and tableau-like formality?Johnson's appetizingly sweet style and delicate palette call to mind none other than a modern Kate Greenaway. Ages 2-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This lucid, flowing book is equal to the challenge of making the passage of time easier for children--who mostly live in the here and now--to grasp. Each spread is composed of three panels, each captioned with a sentence that begins with the word now, soon, or later: ``Now it's time to take a nap. Soon you'll be up again, and you'll get dressed. Later you'll go out and see your friends.'' Grunwald also shows the relativity of time, depicting compressed moments in the day (waiting in line at the slide) and longer ones (the father going to and returning from work). Other nice touches are the carryovers from spread to spread (cookies are made in one, then eaten in the next), and the way simply flipping back to an earlier page presents the notion of the past. Johnson's fresh pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations are gently realistic, showing a small girl's day and the wealth of activities that mark it. (Picture book. 2+) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ages 2^-4. Following a little girl from sunrise to bedtime, this picture book shows the meanings of now, soon, and later. A typical spread has three colorful pictures illustrating the sequential sentences. For instance, "NOW Daddy is leaving for work. SOON Daddy will be at his job. LATER Daddy will come back home." The ink drawings, highlighted with watercolors and colored pencils, are a little stiff at times. Still, when Johnson gets it right (as in the scenes of the child asleep, waking up, and watching her mother work), the artwork is fresh and charming, surpassing that of better draftsmen who have less to say. Young children will enjoy the depiction of simple, familiar activities while they learn from the book's concrete presentation of time concepts. Carolyn Phelan