Wendy Pfeffer

Wendy Pfeffer, who has produced titles on the three other high points of the solar calendar - Autumn Equinox (We Gather Together), Winter Solstice (The Shortest Day), and Spring Equinox (A New Beginning) - turns to the Summer Solstice in this final entry in her seasonal picture-book series. Explaining just what the solstice is, from a scientific point of view, she explores various cultural celebrations associated with this day, from the Chumash rituals surrounding their House of the Sun to show more the Lithuanian custom of lighting a wheel on fire and rolling it down a hill into a river. Other festivals include those traditionally celebrated in Sweden, and those observed today in Alaska. The book concludes with some craft ideas to mark the day, and a list of further reading...

As with its predecessors, I found The Longest Day: Celebrating the Summer Solstice informative and engaging, appreciating the variety of cultural celebrations profiled. I might wish for more details on each one, but then, this is meant to be a brief picture-book sampling, rather than an exhaustive compendium of midsummer traditions. The artwork from Linda Bleck, who also illustrated two of Pfeffer's other titles in the series (A New Beginning and We Gather Together), is a little too cute for my taste, but is nevertheless colorful and full of a sense of motion and fun that feels appropriate for a book celebrating the summer season. Recommended to readers looking for children's books about the Summer Solstice as well as to anyone who has read and enjoyed any of Pfeffer's other seasonal titles. show less

This is the second seasonal title from Wendy Pfeffer and Linda Bleck - the author-illustrator team who have explored the Autumnal Equinox (here), the Spring Equinox (A New Beginning), and the Summer Solstice (The Longest Day); and the author who, with another illustrator, explored the Winter Solstice (The Shortest Day) - that I have read, and like the other (the Spring selection), I found it reasonably informative and engaging, with moderately enjoyable artwork.

Pfeffer lays out the basic show more science behind the equinox, gives a brief history of agricultural cultivation, and then discusses a variety of harvest festivals associated with the autumn, from the Jewish Sukkot to the southern Indian Pongal. Also included are the Yoruba New Yam Festival, and the American holiday of Thanksgiving. The text is a little light on details, but then, it is clearly meant to be a children's survey of different autumn traditions. The illustrations are bright and colorful, with a stylized feeling that is quite attractive.

I cannot say, all-told, that I found either text or artwork outstanding, but given the dearth of titles about this topic (the only other I can think of is Ellen Jackson's The Autumn Equinox: Celebrating the Harvest), it is still a very good title to be aware of. This is one I would recommend primarily to those looking for children's books about the Autumn Equinox. show less

With an informative text from Wendy Pfeffer, a prolific picture-book author with many scientific and ecological titles under her belt, and lovely collage art from Robin Brickman, A Log's Life manages to be both educational and engaging, presenting the tale of a tree's death and decay, in the form of a fallen log, and the new arboreal life that springs up in its place, as it disintegrates. A host of species, from various insects to a porcupine, live off the log as it decays, demonstrating the show more importance of this seemingly "dead" phase of a tree's life-cycle, while the rich earth that comes from its final disintegration provides the material that a fallen acorn needs to eventually sprout.

Although I don't know that I would list her as one of my favorite authors, when it comes to children's non-fiction, I have come to think of Wendy Pfeffer as a very dependable contributor to the field. I have enjoyed her exploration of the seasons (A New Beginning: Celebrating the Spring Equinox, We Gather Together: Celebrating the Harvest Season), as well as various ecosystems (Life in a Coral Reef), and A Log's Life is another one to add to the list of her appealing non-fiction selections. The central idea, in which the life cycles of various species are all tied together through their use of and residence in a tree (and then a log), is well communicated. The artwork, which sometimes seems like it must include actual leaves, and other natural specimens, is created entirely from paper which has been cut, painted and sculpted. Its effect is to place the reader right into the scene being discussed, making the text even stronger than it would otherwise have been.

In short, this is a picture-book that works, and I recommend it to all young nature lovers and would-be ecologists, who will delight in its visual detail, and possibly learn a little bit about an important aspect of a woodland habitat. show less

One of four picture-books that Wendy Pfeffer has penned, exploring the major dates of the solar calendar - the Winter Solstice (here), the Spring Equinox (A New Beginning), the Summer Solstice (The Longest Day), and the Autumn Equinox (We Gather Together) - The Shortest Day first addresses itself to the question of what the solstice is, astronomically speaking, before discussing some of the cultural observations and customs, from around the world, that accompany it. The simple text touches show more upon the coming of winter, and how this is connected to the earth's tilted axis, as it orbits the sun, before moving on to the perception of this time of year, and its celebration, in ancient China, classical Rome, and medieval Europe. The Swedish St. Lucia's Day is mentioned, as is the Incan festival to honor the sun.

I found The Shortest Day to be a rather frustrating book, in some ways, and only awarded it three stars because there are so few children's titles devoted to the Winter Solstice, making it, despite its flaws, an important resource. I know that it is intended for younger children, but the text felt a little too simplistic to me, particularly as it concerned the cultural celebrations connected to this time of year. Why is St. Lucia's Day named, when the Incan festival (Inti Raymi, I assume) is not? Could it be because Inti Raymi occurs in June, and this would point to the inverse nature of the solstices, in the southern hemisphere? No mention was made, to my great disappointment, of some of the astonishing neolithic tombs - chief amongst them, Newgrange, in Ireland's Co. Meath - that were built around the Winter Solstice, and seem to indicate religious ideas connected to this point in the calendar. The passage on the Druids of England and Ireland, while not necessarily untrue, felt rather confused/confusing to me. One thousand years ago, Christianity was well on its way to being firmly established in both countries, and while scholars continue to debate issues of pagan cultural survival, Pfeffer's brief comment about what Druids were doing "1000 years ago" could create a very misleading impression in young readers' minds.

It's been a while since I've read Pfeffer's other seasonal titles, but I don't recall having the same objections to either of her equinox books (I've yet to read her Summer Solstice one). I'd still recommend The Shortest Day, because despite its flaws - which are owing more to inadequate, rather than incorrect information - it is one of only a few children's books devoted to the Winter Solstice, and includes a number of activities that look both fun and informative, but only with the caveat that educators and parents might want to do a little research, and have a more complete understanding of some of the information presented here. show less