Bibliographic Citation
McCloskey, R. (1957). Time of wonder. New York: The Viking Press.
Summary
A family of four have a vacation home on a island off Penolscot Bay that they visit through the year. It is a place where one can watch the time of the world go by the minute, hour, day, and season. Two girls and their pet watch the rain come from across the bay to them. They experience a foggy morning and all at once the clouds lift and it becomes a sunny day. In the summer they have a sailboat and friends come to swim in the high tide and make castles off the rocks at low tide. At night they watch the lights of the stars and the reflections off the water. As the fall begins and the days are shorter, the winds begin to blow and birds have migrated. The girls feel the weather is changing. Their family goes to the mainland for supplies and their boats are secured and they prepare for the hurricane coming. The family is safe inside their house as the hurricane passes by with its roaring wind. The next morning they investigate the fallen trees and haul seaweed to the garden to use for fertilizer. After the cleanup is finished, it is time for them to return home for school is about to begin.
Impressions
A beautifully illustrated book that has become a classic. It is a book that can travel through time by demonstrating what living on an island would be like or spending a vacation by the seashore. It has very colorful illustrations that look like McCloskey captured with watercolors. This is a different kind of shoreline than Texas since this shows what it is like near the shoreline of Maine.
Suggestions For Use in a Library
1. Read this book along with a book depicting the gulf coast shoreline and do a compare and contrast with kids of the two different places.
2. Have children after listening to the book tell what their favorite activity they would have liked to have done from this book and why they chose that activity.
Reviews
From the rush of the waves to the laughter of seagull, Time of Wonder paints a vivid picture of summer spent on a Maine island. It captures the joy and excitement of two young children as they discover the rhythm of nature. Arriving in early spring the girls see the ferns pushing their way through the dead leaves. The days lengthen, and hummingbirds return to the island. With warmer weather comes days spent swimming, sailing, and building sand castles. The girls know that fall is on the way with rougher ways and strong winds. Soon the hurricanes will begin, and it will be time for the girls to pack their bags and head for home and school. They will leave behind the sea and salt air until the following year. Robert McCloskey's poetic language combined with Christina Moore's lyrical narration will transport listeners to the innocence and delight that is a Time of Wonder.
Time of Wonder. (n.d.). Retrieved February 6, 2012, from Children's Literature Reviews:
http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2378/cgi-bin/member/search/f?./temp/~Cur2I8:1
Robert McCloskey's book "Time of Wonder" is a breath of fresh air. It is a classic picture book that, even though it was first published in 1958, never loses its freshness and joy. "Time of Wonder" is a book about the beauty of the outdoors and the life we weave around the sun, the sky, the sea and the weather. In its 63 pages it reminds us of the smell of rain before it starts to fall, the cold, squishy feeling of wet sand between our toes on a hot summer day, the sound of the wind between the tall pines on a rocky shore, the way the sun shimmers on the bay andthe color of it melting below the horizon. It's a story about a family that spends its summers in a cottage on an island in Maine. The main mode of travel is by boat, be it outboard, lobster boat or sailing dinghy. Clams are often on the menu, freshly dug up from the beach, and everybody knows everybody. It's a story about the way life used to be, when kids could feel free to explore on their own, sailing around the bay for hours, exploring islands, having picnics and jumping off of rocks into salty water. The first time I read "Time of Wonder" I felt a longing for a youth I never had! Not having grown up in Maine, of course, I never even heard of a lobster boat until I became an adult, but I immediately wanted to share this story with my kids. I wanted them to feel that same longing as I did, and want deep down in their hearts to have that kind of fun in their childhood. It is a book for dreamers, for quiet contemplation and admiration of the world around us. "Take a farewell look at the waves and the sky. Take a farewell sniff of the salty sea. A little bit sad about the place you are leaving, a little bit glad about the place you are going. It is a time of quiet wonder- for wondering, for instance: Where do hummingbirds go in a hurricane?" Robert McCloskey illustrated this book himself, and was awarded a Caldecott Medal for his work. I can't recommend it enough! Treat yourself and your family with this book. It is worth it.
Tucker, L. (2007, May). Book Review-Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey. Retrieved February 6, 2012 from http://www.kidsaboard.com/magazine/book_reviews/time_of_wonder_mccloskey.shtml
The author has succeeded in transferring his love for the Maine islands to the printed page and as you listen to his words and look at his pictures you feel that every day and every season is a "time of wonder." This is a [book] of great beauty.
Printed on the inside book flap written by The Horn Book.
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