If I Was the Sunshine

February 25, 2019
“If i was the sunshine/ and you were the day,” Fogliano (A House That Once Was) writes, “i’d call you hello!/ and you’d call me stay.” Each stanza of this lilting poem imagines a pair of partners in the natural world—winter and spring, thunder and cloud—and gives them the power to speak and to name each other: “i’d call you whisper/ and you’d call me sing.” To bestow a special, private name upon something draws the named closer to the namer, and each appellation echoes the intimacy shared by the poem’s speaker and the entity being addressed. Long (Love) begins the story on a farm, with a long view of a figure in overalls and a child holding hands, surrounded by the warmth of a summer morning. But he doesn’t stay focused on them. Instead, he pulls back, surveying the wilderness beyond the farm in spring, beneath a storm, and under snow before returning to farmland in summer dusk. Elements of the landscape (the mountains, the ocean) and the creatures that inhabit it (bear cubs, squirrels) are seen interacting in ways that mirror the relationships described in the poem. The word love never appears in Fogliano’s text, but it can be felt on every page. Ages 4–8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

March 1, 2019
A metaphor-rich venture that is far preferable to average Runaway Bunny read-alike fare.Raising the bar for cutesy paeans to snuggly feelings, Fogliano uses surprising connections to telegraph love with frequently unexpected results. She begins, all in lowercase, with a gentle, "if i was the sunshine / and you were the day / i'd call you hello! // and you'd call me stay." Never approaching syrupy, the comparisons range from the intuitive to the unpredictable. "if i was the silence / and you were a sound / i'd call you missing // and you'd call me found." Soon it becomes clear that although love is common to each of these pairings, the emotion changes depending on the creature. "if you were a bird / and i was a tree / you'd call me home // and i'd call you free." Readers are left understanding that what is going on here is far more than simple affection between parent and child. Her choice to eschew the subjunctive mood makes the comparisons seem tantalizingly possible. Jewel-toned images full of light, formed by sumptuous acrylic paints, bring the distant near and the miniscule close. Younger readers will wrap themselves in Long's art while older kids strive to parse the meaning behind each of these gentle rhymes.Gentle on ear and eye, a keen display of relationships bound together in love and complexity. (Picture book. 4-7)

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May 1, 2019

PreS-Gr 1-A farm is the setting for a fanciful dialogue between a mother and daughter that occurs over the span of a day. The duo appears at the beginning and conclusion, viewed mostly at a distance or from behind. The one close-up reveals a girl with dark, straight ponytails, her face golden from the illumination of fireflies. Each conversational segment spans two spreads; the fourth (last) line, appearing after the pause of the page turn, rhymes with the second. Some ideas are imaginative and abstract: "if i was the silence/and you were a sound/i'd call you missing/and you'd call me found." Others are tangible and humorous: "if i was an apple/and you were a worm/you'd call me lunch/and i'd call you squirm." The dance of words and pictures is lovely, although it is curious that Fogliano abandoned the subjunctive mood in a book about "ifs." Long's acrylic paintings, some recalling the patchwork landscapes of Grant Wood, will show well with groups. Large figures fill the foreground, from a dappled cow whose bulk crosses the gutter to a hibernating grizzly bear spilling out of the verso, his frame pushing a field of snow up toward the heavens like a too-small blanket. VERDICT The creative use of language and accessible, pleasing imagery will lead to rereadings, which in turn, will inspire listeners to invent their own playful verses.-Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2019
Preschool-K Dramatic artwork and clever verse combine in a book that will pique young listeners' imaginations. An unseen narrator poses hypothetical scenarios that spill over two-page spreads. For instance, "If you were a bird / and I was a tree / you'd call me home" is accompanied by a close-up of a woodpecker pecking holes in the bark of a tree. Turn the page, and the rest of the text says, "and I'd call you free." The holes are now shown to be heart-shaped, and the bird soars off in a golden-blue sky. These are two of the more literal spreads. Others are more quixotic. The opening spreads, in which a rooster crows in the morning, "If I was the sunshine / and you were the day / I'd call you hello!" and, with a page turn, "and you'd call me stay," combined with the picture of a girl and her mother milking a cow, may need explanation. Mostly, the wordplay is fun, and the beautifully bold acrylic paintings have intense child-appeal.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2019
This big, handsome picture book with a poetic text and lush full-bleed acrylic illustrations begins on a farm, with an adult and child walking toward the barn: "if I was the sunshine / and you were the day / I'd call you hello! // and you'd call me stay." Other spreads depict different animals in their habitats. A gentle meditation on connections in the natural world and in human experience, too.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2019
Fogliano and Long present a big, handsome picture book with a poetic text and lush full-bleed acrylic illustrations, highlighting the natural world and relationships within it. The story begins on a farm, with a rooster crowing and an adult and child walking toward the barn: if I was the sunshine / and you were the day / I'd call you hello! // and you'd call me stay. Fogliano's unexpected yet somehow-just-right phrasing delights the ear with its perfect cadence and tight rhymes that are wrapped up in a near call-and-response rhythm. On the pair of double-page spreads whose text reads, if you were a bird / and i was a tree / you'd call me home // and i'd call you free, Long depicts a pileated woodpecker on the spread with the first three lines; then a page-turn shows the bird flying off the recto, free, and leaving behind a heart-shaped pattern of holes bored into the trunk of the tree where it had been perched. Other spreads depict different animals in their habitats. (Human characters are largely absent from the illustrations save the first and last few spreads.) The first-person speaker and addressee seem to shift with each pair of spreads, offering an ambiguous voice that feels right at home with the quiet, subtle movement between human and animal realms. Is there a story? Not really. This is more of a mood piece offering a gentle meditation on connections in the natural world and in human experience, too. megan dowd lambert

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)