Time of Wonder

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Summary: Time keeps on slipping
Review: (...)
The story, such as it is, follows a family in their summer home on an island in the ocean. Mostly following the children, the story reflects on the wonders of nature itself. The kids walk out into the mist on warm summery mornings. They leap from high ocean rocks, and sun themselves as the rocks grow warm. They sail a boat at night (they've fairly trusting parents, I'd wager) to spy on deep water crabs. Eventually, a hurricane comes to batter the family in their sturdy little home. In the end, the family must return to their real house/life/school and wait to return to the island another year. As they leave, the narrator opines that such moments as these make living a real time of wonder. A time for pondering things like, "I wonder where hummingbirds go in a hurricane".

Working in a medium unlike his usual pencils and inks, McCloskey seemed to draw the images in this book from a very private source. Though you may never have been in a summer home such as this or experienced moments like the ones the children go through, you feel the nostalgia embedded in this story. I may not have ever summered in places where I could make forts out of huge sea stones, but after reading this book I know what it would be like. People may say books such as this don't move quickly enough for kids today. Don't believe it. Kids are kids and good books are good books. The child that appreciates Elmo's World is still going to feel a sense of (for lack of a better word) wonder when they stare at the picture of the hurricane blowing the house's inhabitants in all directions. Kids interested in technical ship jargon and the process of buying supplies before a big storm will be fascinated by this tale as well. Some stories do not age. Others, age in such a way that they become deep and full-bodied like a good fine wine. "A Time of Wonder" falls into the latter category. Take a moment to enjoy it fully.

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Summary: Another Wonderful McCloskey Book!!
Review: I have been a fan of Robert McCloskey books since I was old enough to remember (which was quite so time ago) and I only recently discovered this book. I think I have all of his other books and have read them over and over again through life, finally passing them on to my own daughter.

This is no less of a joy to read than any of the other books written by Robert McCloskey. If anything, it seems almost more lyrical and more developed than his early books.

One item of particluar note is that the illustrations are in color, as opposed to the single color or black and white of his other works. It is wonderful to watch the progress of his art through the various books, ending with the beautiful art in this title.

This is a book every child should have, and will keep, hopefully, until it is time to hand it on!

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Summary: Robert Mccloskey's best book!
Review: I received this book from my parents in about 1970. I finally visited Maine in 1997 and I cried because the images Mr. McCloskey painted of spring, summer, and fall in Maine, that I'd read so many years before, were so accurate. Rarely has an author captured natural beauty and people's enjoyment of it so eloquently and so clearly. I grew up with the Ducklings and Sal, but this book is the best. It is one I hope to grow old with, and I hope my 4 month old son will enjoy it as much as I did and still do. BUY IT!

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Summary: Time of Wonder book review
Review: Jenna Henson 1st Critical Response January 27, 2000 385 Section 2 McCloskey, Robert. Time of Wonder. Illus. Robert McCloskey. New York: The Viking Press, 1957. Wolf, Virginia. " The Cycles of the Seasons: Without and Within Time." Children's Literature Association Quarterly 19:2 (1990). The book Time of Wonder is a children's book written and illustrated by Robert McClosky. The book is about an island that undergoes many changes through out the story. The illustrations portray nicely the transitions the island encounters with the passing of time. The illustrations help elaborate each change the island is going through at the time. Time of Wonder's plot falls into a series of continuous changes and a repetitive cycle of seasons. Many of the book's ideas relate to Virginia L. Wolf's article, " The Cycle the Seasons: Without and Within Time". In her article she states," Similarly dependent upon the natural cycle, people find the seasons multi-leveled and universal symbols"(170). She also states," the cycle of seasons becomes the birth, death, and return of divine things" (170). This relates to McClosky's book in that the book starts off with the beginning of summer. Then things begin to turn to fall and certain changes begin to happen with the passing of time. With the beginning of fall, the hurricane develops and damages much of the island, symbolizing death. After the hurricane is over, the people come out to repair the island, discovering new things left behind by the storm. The humming birds are out singing joyfully. The tone is energetic and uplifting. The people seemed to be filled with new life, symbolizing the return of divine things. In the beginning, the children are playing in the rocks and in the water amongst the summer sun at the edge of the island, symbolizing the birth of the cycle. Wolf refers to Northrop Frye's Mythoi, or generic seasons, which are characterized by the seasons. He says," the full cycle may suggest permanence, promising transcendence as spring follows winter or threatening endless repetition as summer leads to fall"(171). In a Time of Wonder the idea of permanence and promising transcendence to a following cycle of seasons, is depicted in the end of the book. As summer turns into fall and the humming birds fly south for the winter, it is time for the families to pack up and say goodbye to the end of another summer. They must wait for the continuous cycle to complete and bring about another summer so they can return once again. Time of Wonder was a book I enjoyed reading very much. The illustrations went along very nicely with the text and added definite zest to the book.

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Summary: Robert McCloskey examines a summer in Maine
Review: Robert McCloskey's "Time of Wonder" is just that--an examination of a wondrous summer spent in Maine. He follows two sisters (and nominally, their parents and friends) as they spend their days sailing, swimming, battening down for a big storm, and so on. Nothing of great import happens, but McCloskey has a lovely, calming way of relating their story so that we feel the sisters' closeness, their connection to their environment, and their childlike ability to find beauty and interest in nearly everything.

McCloskey's book was first published in 1957, and the illustrations show this--no life vests in a lot of the boating pictures, children swimming without being watched over by a lifeguard or adult, and so on. Still, that's not a bad thing--it shows the protective, exclusionary nature of childhood and the risks children take without even being fully aware that they ARE taking risks.

The illustrations are lovely. These paintings depict Maine as being beautiful without neglecting to show the dangerous side of coastal life as well (witness the storm scenes towards the end of the book). There is a caressing, rhythmic feel to the text which subtly imitates the tidal pull of the ocean. What a perfect gift for anyone who vacations in Maine--or wants to.

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Summary: This evokes all that is mysterious about childhood.
Review: Robert McCloskey's Time of Wonder was one of my favorite books as a child; I loved the way the girls in the story would go from place to place on their summer island and take in all of the impressions. But it was when I went back to read it as an adult that its wonderful lyricism touched me even deeper. Not to scare away anyone who is thining about buying this for their child, but I weep to read this book now. Hightest rating. Buy it!

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Summary: A lyrical, poetic evocation of a childhood summer in Maine
Review: The most poetic of Robert McCloskey's children's books, "Time of Wonder" evokes a childhood summer in Maine. The two girls in the illustrations, never named as the book is written in the second person, are a little more grown up than Sal and Jean in McCloskey's "One Morning in Maine." (The first book in McCloskey's Maine trilogy is, of course, "Blueberries for Sal.")

The places and names are real. McCloskey's descriptions of his adopted home area of northeast coastal Maine make me want to move there, at least for the summer. A late spring rain causing fiddlehead ferns to grow; summer afternoons diving off the age-old rocks; evening sailboat rides; preparing for an end-of-season storm and surveying the altered landscape the next morning; and the final bittersweet packing up, bringing home a few island treasures and adjusting the clock from the rise and fall of the tide to the come and go of the schoolbus ("And children, don't forget your toothbrushes") -- all these images are rendered so lyrically that you can read "Time of Wonder" 274 times to your toddler and never want to rush through it to the end.

Treasure this book. It should have a permanent place in your library.

Rating:
Summary: A lyrical, poetic evocation of a childhood summer in Maine
Review: The most poetic of Robert McCloskey's children's books, "Time of Wonder" evokes a childhood summer in Maine. The two girls in the illustrations, never named as the book is written in the second person, are a little more grown up than Sal and Jean in McCloskey's "One Morning in Maine." (The first book in McCloskey's Maine trilogy is, of course, "Blueberries for Sal.")

The places and names are real. McCloskey's descriptions of his adopted home area of northeast coastal Maine make me want to move there, at least for the summer. A late spring rain causing fiddlehead ferns to grow; summer afternoons diving off the age-old rocks; evening sailboat rides; preparing for an end-of-season storm and surveying the altered landscape the next morning; and the final bittersweet packing up, bringing home a few island treasures and adjusting the clock from the rise and fall of the tide to the come and go of the schoolbus ("And children, don't forget your toothbrushes") -- all these images are rendered so lyrically that you can read "Time of Wonder" 274 times to your toddler and never want to rush through it to the end.

Treasure this book. It should have a permanent place in your library.

Rating:
Summary: Boring!? I think not
Review: The reviewer who found this book "boring" must not have much in the way of imagination. This was one of my favorite books as a child and I still remember it fondly (I'm 38). It doesn't matter if you haven't had experiences exactly like those of the children in the book. The writing and the illustrations make you feel as if you are there. You can practically smell the sea, hear the wind and rain, and the laughter of the kids at the beach. While drawing a vivid picture of a concrete time and place, the book also invokes a sense of timelessness, as well as of "deep time" and the ancient rythyms of nature. I think my favorite moment is when one of the girls stands in a forested area on a misty morning, her eyes closed, and listens to nature awakening around her.

This is a book about taking a break from the fast-paced modern world and connecting with nature (and appreciating its power), with the past, and rediscovering your sense of wonder. Written in the mid-50's, it was ahead of its time in some ways and is definitely as relevant today as it was then, if not more so.

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Summary: great pictures...like the story less
Review: This book is about a summer at the beach, but it has a dry writing style "In the evening, when the tide is high again, and all yor guests have gone, you row around to the point, feeling lonely..." It is pretty wordy and my children (5 and 8) did not want a it read a second time - that is very unusual for a new book at our house. Something about the story seems boring. I would pass on this one.