In March, I was enthralled by Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey. At 63 pages, this picture book had room for a rich description of a childhood summer vacation on Penobscot Bay, Maine. As usual, it took many readings for me to perceive the main theme--the title! This text references ancient, recent, present, and future time. However, I was so drawn into the poetry of each page that I couldn't see the forest for the trees (as they say). The first sentence of the story exquisitely foretells what to expect: "Out on the islands that poke their rocky shores above the waters of Penobscot Bay, you can watch the time of the world go by, from minute to minute, hour to hour, from day to day, season to season." And the word "wonder" serves as both noun and verb in this story.
(I saw an exhibition of Robert McCloskey's work at a local museum. It included illustrations from his book Make Way for Ducklings. McCloskey adopted several ducks to live in his apartment so that he could draw them accurately!)
This book is for anyone at any age who values picture books, which is why I labeled my Picture Book Talk as appropriate for any age group. Its length provided enough material for a Study English lesson also. Lucky are those who can enjoy the ocean!
