Partly Cloudy

by Deborah Freedman, Deborah Freedman (Illustrator)

Overview

What do you see when you look at clouds?

Two curious bunnies enjoy watching clouds go by. But when they look at the sky, they each see something completely different! While one bunny likes to use his imagination and sees cotton candy or whipped cream, the other bunny can only see the science behind them. Together they learn that cloud watching is much more fun when they can see it through each other's eyes.

With extensive back matter about the many kinds of clouds and the water cycle, celebrated author and illustrator Deborah Freedman once again combines the educational with the whimsical, while introducing young readers to two irresistible characters who see the power of possibility.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593352670
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	03/05/2024
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	338,785
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 10.70(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD540L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Deborah Freedman is the author and illustrator of many critically acclaimed books for children, including Blue Chicken, Shy, and Carl and the Meaning of Life. Her most recent book, Tiny Dino, received three starred reviews and was a Kirkus Reviews best book of the year. She loves to watch the clouds and paint them from her home in Connecticut.

You can visit her at DeborahFreedman.net or follow her on Instagram @FreedmanIllustrates and Twitter @Deborah Freedman

Editorial Reviews

01/08/2024

Via two insightful rabbits and a backdrop of freely washed blue sky, Freedman (Tiny Dino) fashions a story of dual perception that both catalogs cloud types and contrasts two ways of seeing the world. One variation, as embodied by a bunny whose head is often turned skyward, involves imaginative perception: “Ooh, that cloud looks like cotton candy.” The other, as conveyed by a spectacle-wearing bunny sometimes toting a book, involves acquiring and disseminating information: “That is not cotton candy. I see a CUMULUS cloud.” Undeterred by fact, the imaginative bunny continues observing: “Look at this cloud! I see a cozy blanket.” The second bunny notes, about the stratus cloud: “A cold and wet blanket, perhaps.” As this back and forth continues, small inset boxes define each cloud type, explaining the Latinate terms, each of which Freedman’s watercolor paintings depict clearly and recognizably. When the sky’s color begins to change, and the rabbits are caught in a thunderstorm despite the bespectacled bunny’s warning, the atmospheric event drives a momentary reversal between the two. Creative imagination and scientific intelligence need not be exclusive, suggests this gently educational book that resists simple caricature. An author’s note and more about clouds concludes. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

★ "Cirrus-ly great." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ "The story is grounded in science and will send children outside to look up, inspired by what they have read. A must have for primary library collections" —School Library Journal, starred review

"Creative imagination and scientific intelligence need not be exclusive, suggests this gently educational book that resists simple caricature." —Publishers Weekly

"This is a cleverly packaged science lesson that will surely bring trivia-focused kids, animal lovers, and aspiring meteorologists (or more specifically, nephologists) together. . . a perfect primer before a cloud-gazing nature walk or, better yet, for a long road trip when “I Spy” has run its course." —BCCB

"Clever and well-executed, this tale is perfect for weather studies or story times." —Booklist

From the Publisher

★ 02/23/2024

PreS-Gr 2—Finding shapes in the clouds is fun for all, but it can be even more fun if there is a scientist that can help identify different types of clouds and give more information about them. Freedman does just that, with two adorable bunnies as the guides. One bunny is fanciful, finding clouds that look like whipped cream or Rapunzel's hair, the other (sigh, with spectacles) is the scientist, identifying the scientific name and properties of clouds, like cirrus clouds, which are made of ice crystals. The text in speech bubbles is as joyful and freestyle as the conversation of unobserved children, while set-off boxes of type provide more formal definitions. This makes the book ideal for story hours, allowing for a flexible give-and-take between reader and audience. The science is substantial enough to allow for independent research, at least as a launch point. Freedman's lovely diaphanous watercolor-like scenes are an ideal counterpoint to the text, showing what the clouds look like. The scientific vocabulary will fascinate young readers. At the end of the book, there are beautifully illustrated diagrams that show the sky positions of different types of clouds as well as more specific information. VERDICT The story is grounded in science and will send children outside to look up, inspired by what they have read. A must have for primary library collections.—Debbie Tanner

School Library Journal

★ 2023-12-06
The scoop on clouds, led by two long-eared skywatchers trading observations and outlooks.

“Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your hair!” cries one plushy little white rabbit, gesturing theatrically at the sky. Responds a second bunny, with eyeglasses: “Those are CIRRUS clouds, and they are basically a lot of microscopic ice crystals.” That’s just one of several similar exchanges beneath gathering cumulus clouds of various sorts, but when storm clouds deliver a mighty BOOM! of thunder, the roles reverse, and it’s the one without glasses delivering the cerebral disquisition on cumulonimbus while the other squeaks about a “humongous monster!” They are, of course, both right…as readers able to let their imaginations roam and also absorb Freedman’s unusually expansive gallery of cloud types will be well equipped to understand. Along with the pleasures of viewing diaphanous watercolor portraits of the 10 main types of clouds and less common sorts ranging from virga and lenticularis to mammatus and wavelike Kelvin–Helmholtz, Freedman offers additional facts in inset boxes, plus lucid schematic views of how clouds form and of the whole water cycle to boot. “There is so much to learn about clouds!” marvels one bunny. And indeed, so much to learn about the world and how we perceive it.

Cirrus-ly great. (selected resources, bibliography) (Informational picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews