Blue Sky

A curly-haired boy, his family, and his friends cast their gazes upward in this vibrant celebration of the ever-changing sky. The only text Wood (Piggy Pie Po) uses are two-word labels for the variations of sky they see, recalling the recent The Quiet Book in concept if not execution. The letters forming “cloud sky” are shaped like the surrounding puffy clouds, “rain sky” drips down as the boy holds out his hand, and the words “star sky” appear as a dense constellation in a sky crowded with stars. There’s an extreme quality to several of the scenes: a triple rainbow (what does it mean?) appears in the “rainbow sky” spread, and the sun blazes yellow and orange in beachy scenarios dedicated to “sun sky” and “sunset sky.” Wood leaves readers with a touch of whimsy, with the boy seen flying through a “dream sky” that incorporates elements of the skyscapes viewed earlier. The only thing understated about this bedtime read-aloud is the prose, but it’s more than likely to have children heading to the windows to check (and name) the current state of the sky. All ages. (Mar.)