WAKE UP, WEATHER

A frog experiences different kinds of weather in this sweetly illustrated board book.

The book starts with a “Wake up, Weather!” Readers find a frog asleep in a hammock of cattail leaves, and the sun is sizzling. As the book progresses the weather evolves. There is rain, fog, snow, clouds, wind, and, finally, when the stars come out, the book ends with a “Goodnight, Weather!” Accompanying the changing weather throughout the book, the frog skips from lily pad to lily pad in rain boots in the rain; climbs a ladder to peek above the fog; ice skates in the swirling snow; floats on a cloud; parallels the whispering wind by whispering to a fellow frog; and, finally, when the weather presumably goes to sleep, so does the frog in the hammock. The true value of the book lies in the richness of the verbs used: “sizzles,” “puddles,” “creeps,” “swirls,” “float,” “whispers,” “shimmer.” The watercolor illustrations have a light, airy, and delicate feel, and the big smile on the frog’s face is a friendly invitation to follow the action. And yet, there is a spark missing to the whole. The pastel-colored, soft-edged illustrations communicate little energy, and the intrusion of snow into what otherwise could be seen as a narrative occurring in one day feels off (if pedagogically excusable).

Young children preferring a light touch will enjoy this one, others can look elsewhere.