Last Song
PreS-Gr 2–Readers peek through the thick cover's cut-out of a heavily leafed oak tree to spy a mother with two young squirrels, all bundled in sleep as dawn breaks. Guthrie (1874-1952) wrote the four line poem that serves as the entire text: “To the sun/Who has shone/All day,/To the moon/Who has gone/Away,/To the milk-white/Silk-white/lily-white star,/A fond goodnight/Wherever you are.” Rohmann glides the squirrels from treetops to tumble, limb frolic, then star gaze. A gorgeous play of light carefully tends to the day's progression, alternating wordless scenes with those accompanied by a single line of text. The variety of perspectives adds to the depth of this small book's paintings, which honor the Scottish author's verse.Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA© Copyright 2010.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.