Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn

May 16, 2016
A girl with brown skin, rosy cheeks, and a red scarf that billows out behind her walks through the landscapes of illustrator Pak’s story, his debut as author, watching summer turn into autumn. She travels through a forest and along a stream, then spends time in town before heading home. Throughout, she addresses the natural objects she sees, and they reply, telling her what they do as the season changes. “Hello, playful foxes and singing blue jays,” she says. “Hello!” they answer. “We are busy looking for food. Some of us are heading south to our winter homes.” Delicate hints of texture and shifting planes of quiet greens and browns transform slowly into a fall palette. By the time the girl returns home, the sun is going down, and the day closes with the first red leaf. The focus is on the natural world, but Pak (Flowers Are Calling) celebrates city life, too, with drawings of diverse townspeople—a mechanic, a man moving boxes—that show a rainbow of a community. It’s a thoughtful look at the kind of change that unfolds almost imperceptibly. Ages 4–7. Agent: Kirsten Hall, Catbird Agency.

June 15, 2016
As a child walks through woods and town, summer turns to fall, and the natural world is met with a friendly hello. A slim, brown child with a black-haired bob and hipster clothes stands on a stoop, ready to greet the late summer morning. On this picturesque journey through the seasons, the protagonist's cordial salutation--whether made to blue jays and beavers or to the thunder and wind--is always the same: "Hello, [object]." And all amiably respond, providing tidbits of information about themselves. Unfortunately, their chatty replies miss the rhythm and easy conversational style that would make this shine as a read-aloud. It's a shame, since the artist's lush, evocative digital illustrations so perfectly capture the changing seasons in both the countryside and the town's streets. To further accentuate the subject matter, Pak makes every spread a panorama, allowing readers to see and feel the various environments and habitats. Working in the tradition of such artists as Richard Scarry and Mary Blair, he takes a graphic approach, illustrating a world with simplified characters and shapes, layers of textures, and bold colors. Repeat visits will reveal new stories, such as the child's collection and distribution of a carefully crafted bouquet to other people, whose diversity refreshingly reflects a range of skin tones, hairstyles, body types, and interests. A visual success conjuring up the best about the seasons' changes. (Picture book. 3-7)

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July 1, 2016

PreS-Gr 1-A girl wearing a red scarf greets a nippy late summer morning. The child wanders through woods, by a creek, and across farmland and finally arrives in town, encountering all sorts of flora and fauna along the way. She greets everyone in a friendly tone, saying hello to trees, blue jays, foxes, distant thunder, breezy wind, and the approaching chill in the air. In the end, returning home, it's "Goodbye, summer...Hello autumn!" Short sentences are positioned over the pictures. The spare text and muted watercolor illustrations blend perfectly to create a feeling of wonder at the change of seasons. This is an upbeat look at the promise of fall's glories. VERDICT A gentle, gorgeous welcome to summer's end and fall's beginning, perfect for storytime or one-on-one reading.-Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2016
Preschool-G A girl takes a walk on a late summer morning and says hello to animals and other natural elements, starting with blue jays, foxes, and butterflies and ending later that day with a chill in the air, a puddle, autumn leaves, and the setting sun. They return her greetings with comments of their own. Finally, over the last three double-page spreads, which illustrate evening, night, and morning, she says the phrases that becomes the book's title. While Pak has contributed the art for other picture books, including Rita Gray's Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? (2014), this is his first as writer-illustrator. His text creates a light narrative framework while pointing out a series of seasonal changes. Using color and composition very effectively, the stylized artwork includes details that kids will enjoy discovering on their own. The wordless night scene beautifully lays out a bird's-eye view of the landscape and town that the girl walked through earlier in the day, giving children a chance to retrace her steps and recall elements of her early autumn ramble.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2017
"Hello, late summer morning," says a young girl in a red scarf. She greets the trees, animals, thunder, etc., and each answers her ("Hello! Now that the cool winds have come, we love how our branches sway in the sun"). The friendly conversation is illustrated with digitally enhanced watercolor and pencil art; the pictures reveal inviting details not mentioned in the text.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from July 1, 2016
"Hello, late summer morning," says a young girl in a red scarf as she leaves her house on a double-page spread suffused in soft greens. She greets the trees, a variety of animals, flowers, thunder, and leaves and each answers her ("Hello! Now that the cool winds have come, we love how our branches sway in the sun"). The friendly conversation is illustrated with digitally enhanced watercolor and pencil art that captures the changing season as the girl walks through woods and into town. Foxes, chipmunks, and other creatures prepare for the coming chill; townsfolk don sweaters. Pak's angular people and objects are especially striking against the round shapes and soft, translucent colors of his background hills and trees. The pictures reveal inviting details not mentioned in the text: our young protagonist has brown skin and dark hair, while the townspeople themselves are a nicely diverse group; three creatures -- a large spotted dog, a blue jay, and a butterfly -- jauntily accompany the girl on her journey, adding a little folkloric flair; and the colorful bouquet of late-blooming asters and phlox the girl acquires in the woods dwindles as she walks through town, while, in her wake, people look pleasantly surprised to find flowers in their hands (or, at the cafe, in their coffee cups). The story comes full-circle in a final spread of the girl outside her house, now surrounded by trees in reds and oranges, once again greeting the day: "Hello, autumn!" Pak's well-executed first appearance as both author and illustrator offers a warm welcome to fall. jennifer m. brabander

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)