The well-known words from the King James Version of the Book of Ecclesiastes are interpreted here with a rural South African setting that skillfully illuminates each pair of contrasting concepts. Daly focuses on two households: a red house with a young family and a blue house nearby with a single elderly woman. The family welcomes a new baby (“a time to be born”), while the sealed door of the blue house and empty boots outside illustrates the neighbor’s passing (“a time to die”). Another young family moves into the blue house, repairing and repainting it (“a time to build up”), and then the interaction of the two families demonstrates each consecutive concept of the Bible verses. Daly’s detailed illustrations in a soft palette often use a panel format showing large expanses of fields, sand and sky, with the people shown as small figures. This design orientation makes the reader observe each illustration closely to interpret the illustration’s connection to the words and to spot the tiny, cleverly inserted details, such as a little girl’s doll that appears on each page. (Picture book. 4-8)
