A Perfect Day

by Jennifer Yerkes

Overview

One bright, sunny morning, the pond’s creatures prepare to perform a symphony. The birds begin with their calls; the frogs join in with their croaks; the fox barks, and the bees buzz. At last the clouds arrive with their thunderous percussion…​

Acclaimed author-illustrator Jennifer Yerkes presents the sights and sounds of an ecosystem in motion. Told with bold, vibrant art and playful onomatopoeia, A Perfect Day is a spectacular reminder to stop and listen to nature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802855770
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	10/19/2021
Pages:	44
Product dimensions:	6.67(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	AD360L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Jennifer Yerkes studied design and art history at universities in the United States, Austria, Hungary, and Scotland. Her books include Red Light, Green Lion (Kids Can) and A Funny Little Bird (Sourcebooks), which won the gold medal at the Society of Illustrator's 2013 "The Original Art" exhibition. An American citizen, Jennifer lives in France with her husband and twin sons. Visit her website at cargocollective.com/jennifer-yerkes or follow her on Instagram @jenniferyerkes_illustration.

Editorial Reviews

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“A day that ‘begins in peaceful harmony’ erupts into a summer storm that is likened to a symphony. . . . Exquisite.”

School Library Journal
“Subtle, graphically sophisticated in its focus, like Yerkes’s other titles, this book asks readers to pause thoughtfully, look closely, and take in the music.

From the Publisher

★ 2021-09-15
A day that “begins in peaceful harmony” erupts into a summer storm that is likened to a symphony.

Fine-lined illustrations in colored pencils capture a morning in nature. It’s a soothing, onomatopoeic adventure, a “melody” that runs through the day: Birds chirp; crickets go “Cree-cree!”; wasps buzz; frogs croak; and snakes hiss. Suddenly, there is a “Whoosh!” of wind; thunder crashes, and lightning strikes. A hard rain falls. With simple sentences, Yerkes transforms the storm into a musical performance. The gathering winds are drums rolling; the thunder is cymbals crashing; and the driving rain is the “maracas mark[ing] the rhythm.” The delicate linework is especially captivating: Graceful apricot lines swirl to become a paper wasps’ nest; elegant circles in sky blue make room, within the page’s negative space, for a frog’s lily pad; a fox, whose copper-colored fur pops off the page, wanders through delicate, feathery grasses; and spreads with vertical lines dominating (tree branches reaching for the sky and tall grasses) begin to lean right as the winds pick up. Readers are then treated to a beguiling full-bleed, wordless spread of the driving rain—a series of parallel diagonal lines, creating gradients in color (shades of blues and lavenders) and space. Spreads are expertly composed with a brilliant use of white space that lets the story breathe. When the rain subsides, a vividly colored yellow bird shakes water off its feathers on this “perfect summer day.”

Exquisite. (Picture book. 3-9)

Kirkus Reviews