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A DAY SO GRAY by Marie Lamba

A DAY SO GRAY

by Marie Lamba ; illustrated by Alea Marley

Pub Date: Oct. 29th, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-328-69599-4
Publisher: Clarion Books

Two friends find a rainbow of colors hidden in everyday scenes on a snowy, cloudy day.

Two children look out a window at the snowy landscape while they put on their winter headgear. “This day is so gray,” says the white, blond child. “No, it isn’t!” says the brown, puffy-haired child. Outside, one child calls the field “blah brown”; the other points out “dots of orange, / and vines of black.” To one, the “snow is boring white”—the other finds in it “lines of purple, / and squiggles of gray.” When they go inside and remove their coats and boots, they cozy up to a warm fire that is not “just orange,” but “flashes of red and yellow.” The pessimist finally admits that the fire is cozy and warm, and so is the “bad luck” black cat, and the “brown, white, gray cocoa.” The thought-provoking and poetic text effectively celebrates balanced, helpful relationships and a positive, almost magical way of seeing and appreciating the world. While the illustrations, which place clean-lined, cartoon figures against, mostly, artfully smudgy backgrounds, fail to enhance the subtlety of the text, they do conjure feelings of cold and warm, with textured snow scenes and the fire’s glow surrounding the two children.

Cozy up with this book to start a conversation about finding what’s bright when things seem dull.

(Picture book. 4-8)