On a magical do-nothing day

Title:

Author:

Alemagna, Béatrice, author.

ISBN:

9780062657602

Personal Author:

Alemagna, Béatrice, author.

Uniform Title:

Grand jour de rien. English

Edition:

First US edition.

Publication Information:

New York, NY : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2017.

Physical Description:

1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 32 cm

General Note:

"Originally published in France in 2016 by Albin Michel."

Abstract:

Sent outside by their mother on a rainy day, a child is dismayed when their handheld game falls into the pond before they encounter giant snails, wet mushrooms, and other elements that awaken them to the sensory aspects of nature.

Audience:

Ages 4-8.

Language Note:

Translated from the French.

Subject Term:

Nature stories.

Imagination -- Juvenile fiction.

Rain and rainfall -- Juvenile fiction.

Video games -- Juvenile fiction.

Genre:

Picture books.

Added Author:

Davis, Jill (Translator)

Document ID:

SD_ILS:2274808

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Library	Collection	Collection	Call Number	Status
Searching... Avenal Branch Library (Kings Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Child - Picture Books	JE ALEMAGNA	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Beale Memorial Library (Kern Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Picture Books	E ALE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Corcoran Branch Library (Kings Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Child - Picture Books	JE ALEMAGNA	Searching... Unknown
Searching... El Portal Branch (Mariposa Co.)	Searching... Unknown	El Portal School	E ALE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Fig Garden Branch (Fresno Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Picture Book Area	A	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Fresno Central Library (Fresno Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Picture Book Area	A	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Fresno County Bookmobile	Searching... Unknown	Children's Picture Book Area	A	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Hanford Branch Library (Kings Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Child - Picture Books	JE ALEMAGNA	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Kings County Pop Up Library (Kings Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Child - Picture Books	JE ALEMAGNA	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Kingsburg Branch Library (Fresno Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Picture Book Area	A	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Mendota Branch Library (Fresno Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Picture Book Area	A	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Red Cloud Branch (Mariposa Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Juvenile Easy Area	E ALE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Ridgecrest Branch Library (Kern Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Picture Books	E ALE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Sunnyside Branch Library (Fresno Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Picture Book Area	A	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Tipton Library (Tulare Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's New Book Area	E ALEMAGNA BEATRICE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Visalia Library (Tulare Co.)	Searching... Unknown	Children's Picture Books	E ALEMAGNA BEATRICE	Searching... Unknown
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Summary

All I want to do on a rainy day like today is play my game, but my mom says it's a waste of time. The game makes my mom crazy. Angry.

She takes it away.

I take it back.

I wish Dad had come with us on this rainy, gray weekend.

Without my game, nothing is fun.

On the other hand, maybe I'm wrong about that. . . .

Reviews (5)

School Library Journal Review

PreS-Gr 2-In this story from France, a mother and young child arrive at a remote cabin in the pouring rain, and all the protagonist wants to do is play an electronic game on the couch. When mom insists that the kid go outside, the youngster takes the game along for protection from "this boring, wet place" but drops it in the pond. At first, the child is desolate, like "a small tree trapped outside in a hurricane." But then the protagonist begins to really look around: snails glow in the dark; colorful mushrooms are reminiscent of the grandparents' basement; interesting objects lie beneath the mud. A tumble down a hill provides an upside-down view of the world that prompts the kid to notice bugs, talk to a bird, splash in puddles, and watch the world shining through smooth stones. Filled with delight in this "magical do-nothing day," the youngster runs home and even sees mom in a new light as they enjoy hot chocolate together. Alemagna's striking illustrations, executed in gouache, oil, collage, and wax pencil, extend the text. Sheets of rain fall from a black sky into a forest of green shadows. In the early pages, the only brightness emanates from the protagonist, whose gender is never identified, a small speck in the orange coat and pointy hood amid looming trees. But the skies brighten and the kid appears larger as the wonder in new discoveries increases. This poignant read-aloud may motivate children to shut down their devices and interact with the world around them. VERDICT A strong choice for most picture book collections. Pair it with Dan Yaccarino's Doug Unplugged for group discussion.-Marianne Saccardi, Children's Literature Consultant, Cambridge, MA © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

While her mother works at her desk, a girl in owlish spectacles plays with a handheld video game console. "What about a break from your game?" her mother says, prodding the girl outside despite the pouring rain. Almost at once she drops her device in a pond ("This could not be happening to me") and sinks into despair ("The rain felt like rocks were hitting me"). Then, in a moment of magic, she's greeted by four cheerful snails, and her journey opens into an encounter with all the life of the forest: "a thousand seeds and pellets, kernels, grains, roots, and berries touched my fingers." Alemagna's spreads ignite with the warm glow of discovery. The generous trim size accommodates big, dramatic spreads as the girl, in her incandescent orange cape, tumbles down a hill and sees the world turned dizzily upside down. When she returns to the family's cabin, the girl finds that even her mother looks a bit different now. Alemagna demonstrates an uncanny knack for rendering emotional experience with line and color in this intimate and distinctive story. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Horn Book Review

On a rainy day in the country, the unnamed and ungendered narrator wants only to play a handheld electronic game. Forced outside, the child encounters talking snails then discovers the wonders of nature. The didactic story is further weakened by its unnecessary fantasy element, but beautiful mixed-media illustrations evoke the mood and strikingly contrast a bright orange rain slicker with the damp, dull woods. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

Depressed by another rainy weekend in the country cabin, a shaggy-haired, bespectacled, white child wallows on the sofa, numbing malaise with a hand-held video game. Mom finally turns the kid out-of-doors, but the gaming device is stealthily pocketed on the way. The narrator (whose gender remains ambiguous) holds the game "tightly," hoping "it would protect me from this boring, wet place." A stumble launches it into icy waters and the child into the forest without technological armor. Marvelously murky illustrations transmit the myriad textures, shapes, and density of the natural world under a mist of rain. Linear and circular forms abut one another, edging and overlapping, placing readers amid smooth stones, coned mushroom caps, button-y buds, and round leaves as well as driving rain, spiky branches, and prickly pine needles. The child's phosphorescent blaze orange coat glows amid the mossy greens of the forest. Alemagna's captivating artwork magnifies the forest's magic, while her language, via Davis' translation, offers an authentic pre-adolescent voice ("This COULD NOT be happening to me!") that's eventually left almost breathless by nature: "I felt a sense there was something special close by. That I was surrounded." The child's ultimate decision to keep her outdoor awakening private once home will resonate with young people just making their own discoveries and finding them precious. An effective argument for unplugged exploration, submitted through startlingly beautiful words and pictures. (Picture book. 6-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* French author-illustrator Alemagna, whose spirited The Wonderful Fluffy Little Squishy (2015) won a Batchelder Award, brings her distinctive style and childlike perspective to the page once more with an inspired tale of boredom. A downpour at an isolated cabin drowns a child's hope of weekend fun, particularly after Mom confiscates a handheld video game. Consigned to the dripping outdoors, the child who passes for either gender dons a neon orange raincoat and steps out into an unpromising world of stormy grays and woodsy browns and greens. After some half-hearted exploration, the bored youth slumps despairingly beneath a tree. Suddenly, four large snails appear, and the child follows them through the forest, which no longer seems so dull. There is an increase in drama as each of the child's senses is triggered by a new discovery in the woods: a patch of red-capped mushrooms; a damp smell like my grandparents' basement. My cave of treasures: squelchy mud; raindrops on the child's tongue each is seen, felt, or tasted with growing excitement. Throughout, the child is a literal bright spot on the page, vivid against Alemagna's rain-streaked mixed-media illustrations, which incorporate subtle wax-pencil doodles that echo childhood's penchant for magical thinking. Yet, these imaginings never become fantastical departures from reality, because here true magic is found in the simple but transformative act of experiencing nature.--Smith, Julia Copyright 2017 Booklist