A Day So Gray
by Marie Lamba
illustrated by Alea Marley
Date: 2019
Publisher: Clarion Books
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library
Once you start to notice, colors and reasons for gratitude are everywhere, and that changes everything! Celebrate the hues and comforts of a cozy winter day as a discontented girl at first notices only dull grays and browns in a snowy landscape but is coaxed by her friend to look more closely. Soon she finds orange berries, blue water, purple shadows, and more. Warm friendship and a fresh way of seeing things transform a snow-covered landscape from bleak to beautiful!
(synopsis from Goodreads)
While the overall premise of this book is nice, it wasn't enough to make me really love the final product.
Two little girls go out into the winter landscape. One of them is a Negative Nellie, constantly complaining about the bleakness of their surroundings. Her friend tries, each time, to turn the observation around. The snow isn't boring and white... it's full of streaks of grey and purple and footprints of green. Eventually, the girls make it to their destination, where the skeptical girl has a sudden, inexplicable change of heart. Both of them then enjoy the various colours around them.
It's the negativity of that one character that really turned me off. I'm glad she came around in the end, but there doesn't seem to be any reason for it. It was a little tiresome to read her unimaginative, complaining text throughout the beginning of the book.
The illustrations are nice, and show the perspectives of both girls (which I thought was kind of clever). The pictures are pleasant enough to look at. I just wish the text that went along with them had been stronger.
Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5
Enjoyment: 2/5
Overall: 2.67 out of 5
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