The Shortest Day

by Susan Cooper, Carson Ellis (Illustrator)

Overview

In this seasonal treasure, Newbery Medalist Susan Cooper’s beloved poem heralds the winter solstice, illuminated by Caldecott Honoree Carson Ellis’s strikingly resonant illustrations.

So the shortest day came,
and the year died . . .

As the sun set on the shortest day of the year, early people would gather to prepare for the long night ahead. They built fires and lit candles. They played music, bringing their own light to the darkness, while wondering if the sun would ever rise again. Written for a theatrical production that has become a ritual in itself, Susan Cooper’s poem "The Shortest Day" captures the magic behind the returning of the light, the yearning for traditions that connect us with generations that have gone before — and the hope for peace that we carry into the future. Richly illustrated by Carson Ellis with a universality that spans the centuries, this beautiful book evokes the joy and community found in the ongoing mystery of life when we celebrate light, thankfulness, and festivity at a time of rebirth. Welcome Yule!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763686987
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	10/22/2019
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	22,497
Product dimensions:	10.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Susan Cooper wrote “The Shortest Day” for John Langstaff’s Christmas Revels, where it is performed annually across the country. She is the author of the classic fantasy sequence The Dark Is Rising, which includes the Newbery Medal winner The Grey King, as well as many other books for children and adults. She lives on a salt-marsh island in Marshfield, Massachusetts.

Carson Ellis is the creator of the Caldecott Honor Book Du Iz Tak? and the New York Times bestseller Home. She is also the illustrator of The Composer Is Dead by Lemony Snicket and Dillweed’s Revenge: A Deadly Dose of Magic by Florence Parry Heide, and she collaborated with her husband, Colin Meloy, on the best-selling Wildwood series. Carson Ellis lives outside Portland, Oregon.

Editorial Reviews

The Shortest Day…is meant to be read as part of a winter solstice revel. But Ellis's illustrations are so evocative and powerful, this book could easily be enjoyed any time of year…Its focus is on the glorious cycle inherent to a planet that orbits a sun.

The New York Times Book Review - Samantha Hunt

★ 07/15/2019

Newbery Medalist Cooper and Caldecott Honoree Ellis observe winter solstice, which Northern Europeans once celebrated, by “singing, dancing,/ To drive the dark away” as one year ended and another began. In Ellis’s subtle, mythical paintings, the sun—a large gray figure with a radiant head—slips away over a landscape first bright and brown, then deep with snow. Lacy tree branches darken, and candles appear on windowsills: “So the shortest day came,/ and the year died.” Out of doors, a father and child light candles on a tree, and their community joins hands in dance, burning “beseeching fires all night long/ To keep the year alive” until “the new year’s sunshine blazed awake.” As time speeds forward, three figures skip toward a modern house. Inside, children dance and sing—both Christmas tree and menorah are present—then tumble outside, a diverse, bundled-up crowd. “Welcome Yule!” they cry. Based on Cooper’s poem by the same name, originally written for a theatrical performance, this cyclical volume offers an alluringly haunting alternative to more familiar seasonal fare—one that is sure to serve as “lights of hope” on a dark season’s stage. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Based on Cooper’s poem by the same name, originally written for a theatrical performance, this cyclical volume offers an alluringly haunting alternative to more familiar seasonal fare—one that is sure to serve as “lights of hope” on a dark season’s stage.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"So the shortest day came," writes Cooper, and Ellis' beautiful gouache paintings depict a world that is pushing against the dark with candles and dance and song. Despite the urgency of the people to push away darkness for light, the tone of the tale is one of hope, anticipation, love, joy and spiritual happiness, culminating with Yule. People depicted morph from early hunter-gatherers to people in northern European medieval garb to a multiracial gathering. They gather in a modern Western home with mantelpiece decorated with menorah and holly, singing carols by the Christmas tree. As precious as sunshine.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

This lovely celebration of winter solstice blends imagery from the long-ago revelries of northern Europeans with modern-day observations and global traditions...A treat to share aloud, this book makes a unique choice for seasonal sharing, opens discussion about rebirth rituals and holidays that incorporate light, and celebrates hope even in darkest times.
—School Library Journal (starred review)

Now transformed into a picture book, The Shortest Day is a joyful and timeless celebration of the winter solstice that will surely become a classic...The multitalented, Caldecott Honor-winning Carson Ellis (Du Iz Tak?) is the perfect illustrator for this project, using muted colors to accentuate the changing interplay between the sun and surrounding darkness.
—BookPage (starred review)

Here, Cooper's words are perfectly paired with Caldecott Honor artist Carson Ellis's ethereal gouache illustrations. Ellis's paintings masterfully juxtapose the physical world of Cooper's revelers with the spirits and beliefs they are celebrating. This gorgeous volume will remind readers they are a part of the vast history of the world. "Welcome Yule!"
—Shelf Awareness for Readers (starred review)

The Shortest Day began as a work for the theater...Here, Cooper's words are perfectly paired with Caldecott Honor artist Carson Ellis's ethereal gouache illustrations. Ellis's paintings masterfully juxtapose the physical world of Cooper's revelers with the spirits and beliefs they are celebrating. This gorgeous volume will remind readers they are a part of the vast history of the world. "Welcome Yule!"
—Shelf Awareness for Readers (starred review)

From the Publisher

★ 10/01/2019

K-Gr 4—This lovely celebration of winter solstice blends imagery from the long-ago revelries of northern Europeans with modern-day observations and global traditions. Originally created for a 1974 theatrical production of the Christmas Revels, the poem is filled with ear-pleasing rhythms, lyrical language, and a dramatic momentum that pulls listeners in. The gouache illustrations open with atmospheric renderings of old Europe; the curved outlines and warm earth tones bring to mind ancient cave paintings. As pages turn, the sun, perched on the shoulders of a dusky gray figure with a walking stick, strides across the horizon crouching ever lower, until it sets behind the backdrop of wooden houses ("So the shortest day came,/and the year died"). The next scene shows a line of villagers venturing into the night, "singing, dancing,/To drive the dark away." They place lighted candles in trees, hang their homes in evergreen, and burn "beseeching fires all night long/To keep the year alive" until "the new year's sunshine blazed awake." Their delighted voices reverberate through the centuries, as modern-day celebrants "carol, feast, give thanks,/And dearly love their friends,/and hope for peace" in a cozy home festooned with both Christmas tree and menorah. A line of children head outdoors to "Welcome Yule!," their silhouettes and joyful expressions cleverly echoing the villagers from long ago (the sun figure reappears on the final page). VERDICT A treat to share aloud, this book makes a unique choice for seasonal sharing, opens discussion about rebirth rituals and holidays that incorporate light, and celebrates hope even in darkest times.–Joy Fleishhacker, Pikes Peak Library District, Colorado Springs

School Library Journal

★ 2019-07-28
Rituals to celebrate the cycle of light and dark have existed since the beginning of time.

Newbery Medalist Cooper uses sparse, evocative language that personifies how humans celebrate the changing of the seasons. Featuring a poem created first for the Christmas Revels, the book tells the story of the solstices, how the world moves from the year's longest day in the summer to the shortest day of winter. The tone is both solemn and reverent yet also full of rejoicing. The story begins as silent as sunrise, the rich, evocative illustrations of Caldecott Honoree Ellis giving voice as she shows early humans working during the time of light, their day's activities revolving around the movement of the sun. "So the shortest day came," writes Cooper, and Ellis' beautiful gouache paintings depict a world that is pushing against the dark with candles and dance and song. Despite the urgency of the people to push away darkness for light, the tone of the tale is one of hope, anticipation, love, joy and spiritual happiness, culminating with Yule. People depicted morph from early hunter-gatherers to people in northern European medieval garb to a multiracial gathering. They gather in a modern Western home with mantelpiece decorated with menorah and holly, singing carols by the Christmas tree.

As precious as sunshine. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews