I Call It Sky

Kindergarten-Grade 3An attractive and evocative presentation of the concepts of planetary atmosphere and weather. An appealing assortment of boys and girls frolic through various weather phenomena, rejoicing in the taste of snowflakes, the tickly trickle of raindrops, and the cloak of invisibility loaned by fog. On the final double-page spread, a boy explains that Even when I cannot see it/I still know the air is there./It welcomes the sun in the morning/and frames the stars at night./I call it sky. The large, colorful paintings keep step with and solidly reinforce the lyrical language of the first-person text. Combine this inviting, enjoyable introduction with Peter Spiers delightfully squelchy (if wordless) Rain (Doubleday, 1982; o.p.), Patricia Polaccos gently reassuring Thunder Cake (Philomel, 1990), James Stevensons hilarious We Hate Rain (Greenwillow, 1988), Franklyn Branleys competent Air Is All around You (Crowell, 1986; o.p.) and Down Comes the Rain (HarperCollins, 1997), or Ken Robbinss poetic (if more complex) Air (Holt, 1995), and you have the nucleus of a fine whole-language science unit.Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

PLB 0-8027-8678-2 Howell makes a simple, exquisite point in this book: It's all weather. More important, the book serves as encouragement to get out into the weather, rain or fog, wind or shine. Two-page spreads from Wardatmospheric paintings peopled with childrenstart by introducing the seasons along with a typical, complementary weather scene: lazy, still summer days, the storm clouds of autumn. The second half of the book is made up of experiential comments, e.g., ``I know about the fog in the fall because I can step into it and feel its wetness hide me. I like to disappear into the fog and pretend that I am invisible.'' Almost incidentally, the reasons behind these weather effects are explained in rudimentary fashion. For readers who want to delve deeper, an afterword offers a succinct overview. This book's smiling brood knows how to take pleasure in all conditions: There is no bad weather. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.