Review by Booklist Review
Ages 4^-7. "In November, the earth is growing quiet. It is making its bed, a winter bed for flowers and small creatures. The bed is white and silent, and much life can hide beneath its blankets." Poetic language and lovely oil paintings evoke the traditional and seasonal activities that occur in November. Families gather around the table for a Thanksgiving feast, cats snuggle together in the corner of the barn, "staying birds" bid farewell to "leaving birds" beginning their long journeys. Rylant's words are simple but evocative and filled with wonderful sensory images, similes, and metaphors: the bare November trees are "all sticks and bones . . . spreading their arms like dancers." The smell of November food "is an orange smell. A squash and a pumpkin smell." The verbal images are splendidly captured in Kastner's soft-edged, double-spread paintings, which are rendered in a palette of warm autumn colors and sepia tones. The rich illustrations, done in a painterly style with obvious brushstrokes and texture built up from thick layers of oil paint, are a perfect match for the text. This handsome book is sure to become a new fall favorite. --Lauren Peterson
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-A poetic text reflects on the month when "the earth is growing quiet." A friendly mouse draws readers into the book by peeking from under a leaf on the cover and title page, scurrying across the dedication page and onto the first spread, and then disappearing. Birds and animals experience the cold, which causes the cows to sleep and the horses to shiver; bees hibernate in "deep, earthy holes-And dogs lie before the fire." A large extended family visits and shares a meal to give thanks, then travels home at night. The well-paced, skillfully painted oil-on-paper paintings are mostly full spreads. Dramatic angles, strong composition, and interesting perspectives enhance the descriptive text. Although not as colorful and appealing as Lois Ehlert's Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf (Harcourt, 1991) or as funny and entertaining as Dav Pilkey's `Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving (Orchard, 1990), this book establishes the mood and feel of November. It is an agreeable storytime companion to the above titles, helpful for classrooms wishing to explore the month using their senses, and satisfying for one-on-one sharing.-Debbie Stewart, Grand Rapids Public Library, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Beginning with changes in the earth and with animals preparing for winter, this paean to the cozy, tucked-in feeling at the end of the year builds up to a special November day, Thanksgiving. Although the story, complete with horses out by the barn and Labrador retrievers lying by the fireplace, suggests an idealized rural portrait, the mood blends well with the full-page, rough-textured oil illustrations. From HORN BOOK Spring 2001, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A gentle hymn to an autumn month. Starting with the landscape and moving on to animals, then people, Rylants voice describes the scene in immediate terms: leafless trees lovely . . . spreading their arms like dancers; birds that fly away and those that stay know all berries will be treasures. Cats sleep in barn corners and dogs before the fire. In November, an orange smell of squash and pumpkin and cinnamon fills the house: people come to share and to give thanks at winters gate. The brief, evocative text sits on full-page, oil-on-paper paintings. Broad, thick brushstrokes capture the sturdy horses, the little mice, and the country landscape from gray to brown to snowy white. The multigenerational family is clearly delighted to be together. A quiet, pre-holiday gift. (Picture book. 4-8)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
