One Sky

by Aaron Becker, Aaron Becker (Illustrator)

Overview

Marvel at the sky in this meditative die-cut book, a follow-up to You Are Light and My Favorite Color, from the Caldecott Honor–winning creator of the Journey trilogy.

Its dawn begins in darkness.
With hope we greet its light.

Within the pages of this elegant book is the entire sky. Lyrical text moves readers through the day, from dawn to dusk, while ink- and die-cut lines resembling stained glass arc across the pages like birds in flight. An encounter with the translucent, jewel-colored panes in this special board book offers a luminous reminder that, no matter the hour or the hue, we all dwell together under one magnificent sky.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536225365
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	09/06/2022
Pages:	16
Sales rank:	481,291
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.52(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Aaron Becker is the Caldecott Honor–winning author-illustrator of the Journey trilogy and A Stone for Sascha, as well as You Are Light and My Favorite Color. He lives in western Massachusetts with his family.

Editorial Reviews

Becker takes readers on a visually striking, poetic journey through the day with the vibrant sky as the backdrop. . . . Between Becker’s poetic text, featuring satisfying alliteration (“We wonder at its wildness”) and the amazing sense of movement and color, readers are treated to a feast for the ears, eyes, and imagination. Lyrically dazzling, artistically stunning
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Becker’s die-cut board books encourage readers to explore the way the pages interact with the light. . . With the illustrations, the sky is rendered in tissue-paper bleeds, creating stained-glass windows of clouds, sunshine, and stars.
—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

10/28/2022

PreS-K—Becker's die-cut board books encourage readers to explore the way the pages interact with the light, and in his latest, the text feels more ethereal, very nearly abstract: "The sky grows clear and bright. We wonder at its wildness. We drink its amber beams. With peace we welcome dusk." Young readers will either have whiplash at the speed at which the day passes or this will appeal to their poetic impulses. With the illustrations, the sky is rendered in tissue-paper bleeds, creating stained-glass windows of clouds, sunshine, and stars. VERDICT Where Becker's books are popular, or where experimental picture books do well, this selection will fit right in.—Chance Lee Joyner

School Library Journal

★ 2022-06-22
Stained glass–like cutouts depict the sky from dawn to dusk.

Caldecott Honor author/illustrator Becker takes readers on a visually striking, poetic journey through the day with the vibrant sky as the backdrop. The board book opens, “Its dawn begins in darkness,” and a swirl of thick black lines and geometric cutouts scrawl across the page. The cutouts, scattered throughout, have colorful, translucent inserts. Holding them up to a light source (for most success, try a sunny window) gives these a stained-glass effect in a palette matching the page. Each cutout complements the page that it is first found on as well as the next layout, mimicking the way the sky shifts subtly throughout the day, with colors evolving and deepening but not completely vanishing. Becker’s blend of hues is strategically chosen to resemble the delicate mix of blues, purples, and pinks that accompany an early morning sky. As the day progresses, there are orangey pinks, light blues, and little white patches that suggest clouds. The darkening sky at dusk reflects the morning’s pinks and purples until it becomes a dark purple with white sprays of stars: night. Between Becker’s poetic text, featuring satisfying alliteration (“We wonder at its wildness”) and the amazing sense of movement and color, readers are treated to a feast for the ears, eyes, and imagination.

Lyrically dazzling, artistically stunning. (Board book. 2-6)

Kirkus Reviews