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A HONEY OF A DAY by Janet Marshall

A HONEY OF A DAY

by Janet Marshall & illustrated by Janet Marshall

Pub Date: March 31st, 2000
ISBN: 0-688-16917-1
Publisher: Greenwillow Books

A host of wild animals attends the wedding of two bears set among the abundant wildflowers that have inspired this story. Marshall (Banana Moon, 1998, etc.) constructs a story out of the names of wildflowers, i.e., “Trumpets blared, bluebells rang, and blue flags waved. . . . Jack-in-the-pulpit, the preacher, looking smart in his bishop’s cap, raised his goldenrod to welcome [the guests].” All the denizens in the forest join together to help celebrate the wedding of their friends, Sweet William and black-eyed-Susan. Jack-in-the-pulpit, an owl, is the preacher; Johnny-jump-up, a rabbit, is the best man; Pussy willow (a cat, of course) is the flower girl and so on. Rose petals are thrown at the happy couple, the wedding feast consists of butter-and-eggs and marsh mallows (yes, those are wildflowers, too) and tea is served in buttercups. Unfortunately, neither the story nor the illustrations are very appealing. The cut paper illustrations are unattractively flat and overly busy, with colors that jar. The layout of each page is too uniform—each is a two-page full-bleed spread with a solid background color, with little variation in the display of the text. Even the endpapers, with individual pictures of each wildflower in octagonal frames, are drab. A clever idea, but one that is unsuccessfully executed. (Picture book. 3-7)