Wednesday, October 04, 2017

A Perfect Day

A Perfect Day. Lane Smith. 2017. 32 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: The warmth of the sun...felt good on Cat's back. Cat liked to be in the flower bed where the daffodils grew. It was a perfect day for Cat. The cool of the water was what Dog liked best. When it was hot, Dog sat in the wading pool that his friend Bert filled for him. It was a perfect day for Dog.

Premise/plot: A Perfect Day is a near-perfect look at differing perspectives. Cat. Dog. Chickadee. Squirrel. Readers meet them one by one. Not everyone will have a perfect day....all day. Enter BEAR.

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one very much. It starts off perfectly lovely. Readers meet a cat, a dog, a boy named Bert, a chickadee, and a squirrel. As much as I "hate" to say it, the Bear MAKES the book. There would be no story without the Bear. The Bear makes for some conflict. My favorite illustration of the book is the spread where Bear has the corncob--formerly Squirrel's corncob--in his mouth seemingly grinning. The text reads: It was a perfect day for Squirrel. The WAS appears in a different font and a different size from the rest of the text giving it emphasis. This "was" emphasis continues as readers see what else Bear needs for his perfect day.

The back jacket flap shows a snapshot of a bear eating birdseed out of a bird feeder. My guess is this one is based on a true story.

Text 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 5 out of 5
Total: 10 out of 10
© 2017 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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