Quill and Quire

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Waiting for the Sun

by Alison Lohans, Marilyn Mets and Peter Ledwon, illus.

To pass the time while she waits for her new brother to be born, Mollie makes a list of important things to show him: the five wriggly tadpoles she caught, a newly laid chicken egg, and the tractor in her father’s field that sounds like a big bear singing. It seems to take forever for the baby to arrive, but when it finally happens, Mollie realizes that her new brother, Benjamin, with his wrinkled face and tiny fingers, is much too little to enjoy her discoveries. Just as she has learned how to wait patiently for his arrival, Mollie realizes that babies need time to grow.

Author Alison Lohans teams up with illustrators Peter Ledwon and Marilyn Mets in this low-key story. Ledwon and Mets have created unusual visuals of photographically realistic characters in a dream-like setting, blurred against vibrant prairie skies and nostalgically colourized to create a captivating, sometimes unsettling effect. The illustrators make exceptional use of light, building tension with shadow as Mollie anxiously waits, and illuminating her as she explores life on the farm. The art marries well with Lohans’ occasionally poetic, serious text. From an adult point of view, this is a stunning book, but will children like it?

There is a melancholy feel to this work, perhaps because much of the story occurs at night in shadow. With little to lighten things up, it lacks even subtle humour. A competently written, uniquely illustrated story of hope and acceptance, it will be useful in creating conversation with children about babies, but it’s not a book that kids will ask for over and over again.

 

Reviewer: Carol L. Mackay

Publisher: Red Deer Press

DETAILS

Price: $18.95

Page Count: pp

Format: Cloth

ISBN: 0-88995-240-X

Released: Oct.

Issue Date: 2001-12

Categories: Children and YA Fiction, Picture Books

Age Range: ages 4-7