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JANUARY RIDES THE WIND by Charlotte F. Otten

JANUARY RIDES THE WIND

A Book of Months

by Charlotte F. Otten & illustrated by Todd L.W. Doney

Pub Date: Oct. 1st, 1997
ISBN: 0-688-12556-5

Otten's first children's book offers one vivid short poem for every month of the year: ``February turns everything to gray,'' ``June measures time until the longest day becomes the shortest night,'' and ``September squeezes what is left of summer into night-cool cider,'' etc. Doney's gorgeous, impressionistic paintings combine perfectly with the simple resplendence of Otten's poems, using light and shadow to draw readers into the shade of a willow in April, to the apple-blossom snow of May, and to the baked heat of a July afternoon. Text and art connect seasonal images with nature, people, animals, and home, finally bringing the children seen in the paintings inside for a firelight reading of the same book readers are holding. A splendid walk through the months. (Picture book. 4-9)