School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-This musical read-aloud tracks an unnamed child through various nature-filled scenes and seasons-"A cloud knows how to rain./The thunder, how to boom./A bulb knows when it's time to sleep/and when it's time to bloom." Readers follow along from farm to forest to seashore and back, ending at home with the big finale. "And-not so very long ago,/on a moonlit night-you knew how to tell me/that the time was finally right./The days know how to march along/no matter what we do./And I know how to love you,/no one taught me./I just knew." This sweet journey of nature and love is wonderfully illustrated with Dyer's softly artistic and realistic style, which has served many other picture books so well. She perfectly mirrors the mood and text of the story while providing welcome details and texture. VERDICT This lovely book is a great read-aloud for storytime or individual sharing. It also might spark discussions by children asking about how the mother knew "the time was right."-Catherine Callegari, formerly at Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH c Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Returning to the mother-child focus of Little Baby Buttercup (2014), Ashman connects a mother's love for her child to other instinctual tendencies throughout the animal kingdom and natural world. Dyer's (the Cookies series) sumptuous mixed-media paintings center on a cherubic toddler of unspecified gender, who engages with nature's offerings throughout the year-such as examining a daisy while sitting in a bed of flowers or tossing a handful of autumn leaves into the air. Ashman's fluent verse strikes a lulling tone as she describes the innate biological knowledge of creatures ("The fox knows how to make a home inside a cozy log./ And no one taught the tadpole how to be a frog") and cyclical events in nature. Throughout, Dyer highlights the child's growing capabilities, and toward the end, the mother acknowledges how "you knew how to tell me/ that the time was finally right" when the baby was ready to be born. A gentle, heartwarming celebration of the continuity of life and of a parent's love. Ages 4-8. Author's agent: Jennifer Mattson, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Illustrator's agent: Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Echoing Ecclesiastes, Ashman explores ordinary miracles through the seasons. "A cloud knows how to rain. / The thunder, how to boom. // A bulb knows when it's time to sleep / and when it's time to bloom." The gentle rhymes continue as the pages turn, the seasons changing from spring to summer, then fall to winter. Seeds sprout, lambs bleat, waves tumble to the shore, swallows migrate, oak leaves fall, bears hibernate, and hares change to their winter coats. "Andnot so very long ago, / on a moonlit night / you knew how to tell me / that the time was finally right. // The days know how to march along / no matter what we do. / And I know how to love you. / No one taught me // I just knew." Ashman's poetic verses are perfectly complemented by Dyer's watercolor, acrylic, pencil, and gouache illustrations, which portray the natural world realistically, from the eyelashes on the lamb and the fuzz on the bee to the needles on the evergreen. A curly-haired blond cherub with wonderfully chubby pink cheeks is the focus, enjoying the wonders of nature. When the thunder booms and the waves crash, mother is there to soothe and protect, love, and provide a lap for reading this very book. Simply beautiful. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Elements of nature instinctively know what they're supposed to do: A seed knows how to sprout, / A lamb knows how to bleat. / A bee knows where the nectar is / to make the honey sweet. A litany of such occurrences clouds making rain, trees growing and losing leaves make up the text until we see the pregnant woman, who is actually our narrator. She, too, has her own internal timetable. When her baby is born, no one needs to teach her how to love her child, now sitting on her lap: I just knew. The simple yet artful rhymes are made to be read aloud to young listeners sitting on their own parents' laps. Illustrator Dyer is the go-to artist for the softest and sweetest of artwork featuring young children, and she doesn't disappoint here. A towheaded child is the focus, but both friends, flora, and fauna are equally endearing. Children may find more in this book than just sentiment, so prepare for questions. How, they might ask, does a bulb know when to bloom?--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2016 Booklist
