All Year Round

by Emilie Leduc, Shelley Tanaka (Translator)

Overview

A joyful look at the months of the year through the eyes of a young child.

From January through December, experience a world of color, wonder and silliness. March is for celebrating a birthday, July is for swimming upside down, September is for crunchy piles of leaves and December is for a kingdom all in white. Experience a whole year to play and celebrate!

Author and illustrator Emilie Leduc brings a vibrant year of childhood to life with her soft yet vivid illustrations and poetic text. Each month of the year shows off a new wonder, and the giddy smiles of the child in the story are sure to be contagious.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781554984114
Publisher:	Groundwood Books
Publication date:	08/01/2015
Pages:	28
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	AD480L (what's this?)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

EMILIE LEDUC graduated in graphic design from the Universityé du Québec à Montreal in 2010. She studied animation at the Cégep du Vieux Montréal. She has worked as a graphic designer, animator and illustrator for various television series. In 2010, Emilie received the Michèle Lemieux Award for Illustration. All Year Round was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for Illustration in 2012.

Emilie lives and works in Montreal.

SHELLEY TANAKA is an award-winning author, translator and editor who has written and translated more than thirty books for children and young adults. She teaches at Vermont College of Fine Arts in the MFA Program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. Shelley lives in Kingston, Ontario.

Read an Excerpt

January

I am a giant.
I tromp through the forest.
Crunch! Swoosh!

The wind sings me a nursery rhyme.

I love the month of January and the forest so white.

***

May

I say hello to the butterfly and he tells me his secret.
He has tasted the sweetness of dew.
I wish I could, too.

I love the month of May and the flowers with their bright colors.

***

November

The snow drifts everywhere.
But beneath my feet lie hidden treasures,
in all the colors of the rainbow.

I love the month of November
And the gentle flakes of snow.

Editorial Reviews

07/20/2015
In a dreamy outing, a boy with a smiling mouth, oblong face, and eyes squinted in delight revels in the changing sounds, sights, and tastes of the seasons in brief poems for each month of the year. In May, he peers from behind a cluster of pink grass to greet a yellow butterfly: “I say hello to the butterfly, and he tells me his secret./ He has tasted the sweetness of dew./ I wish I could, too.” In October, the boy dresses up as a clown and hugs a grinning jack-o’-lantern: “And, boo!/ With my little red nose/ I am a magic clown.” Leduc’s fluid color pencil images are bathed in a muted, milky light that, along with the expressive observations within the poems, suggests a child’s growing sense of awareness of his surroundings. Ages 2–5. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

This delightfully illustrated book takes younger readers through the months of the year by season.

Toronto Star

CCBC Best Books for Children and Teens, Spring 2016

"Charmingly illustrated . . . Joyful and sweet." — Kirkus Reviews

"With rich vocabulary and dynamic illustrations, this quaint title is exquisite." — School Library Journal



January

I am a giant.
I tromp through the forest.
Crunch! Swoosh!

The wind sings me a nursery rhyme.

I love the month of January
and the forest so white.

From the Publisher

10/01/2015
PreS-K—Tromping through the snow in January and ending in the winter white of December, Leduc's All Year Round is one boy's poetic frolic through the seasons. The color pencil illustrations drawn on Mylar paper are soft, whimsical, and stunning. In this calendar of joy, each month's page ends with the refrain "I love the month of ___," followed by the reason it deserves celebration. This lovely little book will inspire enthusiasm for nature and encourage kids to notice small details. This would be a great title to add to use to introduce the months, the seasons, or a unit on poetry. VERDICT With rich vocabulary and dynamic illustrations, this quaint title is exquisite.—Kaitlin Connors, Virginia Beach Public Library

School Library Journal

2015-06-16
A celebration of the joys brought by each month of the year as seen through the eyes of a young child. From January through December, there is always something to love. January is for tromping through the forest, February for drinking hot chocolate, March for blowing out birthday candles, June for zooming in a race car, and October for hiding behind a pumpkin. A delightfully depicted chubby-cheeked boy and his faithful cat enjoy it all, pictures both providing additional details and developing an ebullient mood. Each month is celebrated in a two-page spread, charmingly illustrated in color pencils on Mylar paper with a resulting soft and somewhat blurry feel. In January, the child wears a red snowsuit with blue hat and mittens, happily snowshoeing while his cat watches from the window; in June, he pedals a tricycle (his "little race car") as the cat follows behind; in December, he's back in his snowsuit for some skating, and his cat poses with the hat over her face. Originally published in French, the terse, poetic text evokes the different months in language a young child can easily relate to: in July, "I am so light I can fly, but I have no wings! / The water tickles my hair. / I swim upside down, my toes in the air."Joyful and sweet. (Picture book. 2-5)

Kirkus Reviews