From dawn to dark in this ever-so-satisfying picture book from the creator of Hey, Water! and Now, readers are treated to a series of poetically posed riddles which offer an evocative exploration of the sights and sounds, touches and smells a girl experiences one summer day.
"Morning lays me on your pillow,/ an invitation, square and warm./ Come out and play!" These first lines beckon readers to turn the page to find out who or what is speaking: sunlight. And, just like that, a pattern is established. Next up is snail asking the girl to "read all about my/ nighttime travels." A leaf follows and implores her to "follow my roads/ and climb." Inchworm, tadpole and pebble make appearances before rain moves in, accompanied by lightning and "the rumble/ in the stomach of the storm" that is thunder. Shadow gives way to darkness, "a black coat/ slipped around/ Earth's shoulders," and a satisfying experience culminates in that "engine/ of the summer dark," as cricket, the "engine of the summer dark" thrums in the "new green day" of tomorrow.
Portis's digitally finished illustrations use brush, ink, leaf prints and charcoal with hand-stamped lettering. She poses her riddles in square swatches of color, using an earth-toned palette that echoes the pale yellow of sunlight through a window, the green of an inchworm, the deep blue-gray of a stormy sky. In its reverence for each finely described detail, A New Green Day holds a magnifying glass to the wonders, big and small, that are waiting in nature for all to enjoy. --Lynn Becker, blogger and host of Book Talk, a monthly online discussion of children's books for SCBWI