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Have you heard the sound of crickets in the dark this summer? Do they recall for you taking flights of fancy on warm summer nights when you were a child? Irene Haas recalls it perfectly in her new book "A Summertime Song." On just such a night, Lucy opens the window at her grandmother's house, and a magical journey begins when frog jumps in with a birthday party invitation.
Reminiscent of "Alice in Wonderland," Lucy becomes as "little as a leaf" and sets off to the party in a taxi pulled by Baby Bird. They stop for other partygoers, find a tiny old doll, and escape the threat of being dinner for a hungry owl before arriving at the huge party. "Everyone from the garden was at the party!" and wonderful things transpire, especially when owl discovers the party is for him.
But Lucy knows the happy ending is yet to come. She takes the doll back to her grandmother's, pulls off her party hat and becomes full-sized again. Grandmother, singing sadly at the piano, is delighted to see the doll that she lost long ago. Then comes strawberry ice cream and "a hundred hugs and kisses" and a happy summertime song.
Haas, author and artist of award-winning "The Maggie B." some ten years ago, has created richly detailed, loose watercolor illustrations for "A Summertime Song." Set against the deep browns and blacks of night, the party hats and flowers add exuberance. Haas has filled the scenes with imaginative details such as two turtles carrying a cake with lighted candles, a mole playing an accordion, and a salamander dancing. It was some party!
The story is just as entrancing and fun to read with its occasional rhyme and alliteration. It takes several trips through the pages to see and hear all that's happening on this nighttime jaunt. It's a perfect bedtime book, and grandmothers will love reading it to their little ones. At least this one did.
Etta Wilson is children's book review editor of BookPage.
©1997, ProMotion, inc.
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