Review by Booklist Review
An imaginative, inquisitive boy yearns to touch the sun. His family cites reasons why they can't help ("It's too far away," "It is too hot"), so the child decides to go out on a limb and fly up into the sky by himself. Sun, a welcoming and hospitable host, greets the young voyager with a tender embrace and gives a bird's-eye nature tour of her handiwork from forests to flowers to a rainbow. The young boy's first-person-narrated recap of his surreal experience is simply stated: "She showed me things that took her years to grow . . . and things that only lasted seconds." Pops of primary colors lend a luminous glow to Hayes' black-and-white line drawings. Conversation turns deep during a discussion about night. While Sun is always shining, the child confesses to having dreams that are sometimes "dark and scary." Receiving wise celestial guidance, the boy returns home with a newfound awareness of his own inner light. Warmth and positive energy shine through this illuminating picture book.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Horn Book Review
Hayes tells a tender, surreal story about a young child in awe of the sun's warmth. Despite family members' naysaying, the boy decides to fly up and visit the sun "by myself." The sun greets him with a hug and invites him to appreciate her work. They see a busy beach and a flower she helped to bloom. She shows him a forest of trees "that took her years to grow" and a rainbow "that only lasted seconds." The child shares his questions, dreams, and fears -- in return, the sun offers a parting gift that makes him "feel brilliant with light." The boy's peculiar charcoal-gray world is brightened by the discerning use of color, particularly the vibrant yellow of the sun. Hayes's understated and unfussy text provides a sense of reassurance that, though darkness and insecurity may appear in our lives, the light within us never truly disappears. (c) Copyright 2023. 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
In graphic novelist Hayes' picture-book debut, a boy gains cosmic knowledge. The young narrator's wish to "touch the sun" isn't taken seriously by either naysaying parents or a distracted older brother. Undaunted, the boy flies to the sun. She welcomes him graciously, letting him perch on a ray and introducing him to cloud friends. Sun shows him "where she worked…and what she's made," from trees to rainbows. The boy learns that Sun doesn't dream, "because when it's night for you, I am always shining somewhere else." He confides that his dreams are often happy but sometimes scary; she thanks him for his brave candor. Sun explains that her light "comes from within"--and that he has an inner light, too. Her touch and the warmth the boy feels lead to an epiphany--"like a little sun inside"--which Hayes depicts as an orange-yellow circle over his heart. It undulates outward in sun-hued rays, powering him back to his loving family. Spare gray line drawings use detail selectively: Hatching textures clouds and earth, and rendering delineates facial features. Humans' skin is the white of the page, like nearly everything in the surrounding space. Crayonlike color is generally reserved for Sun and her selected achievements: plant life, the sunlit sea, a woven rug in sunset colors. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Economically told and illustrated yet pulsing with the sun's life-giving energy. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
