Yellow Time

By Lauren Stringer 
Beach Lane Books, 2016
Picture book, 40 pages, ages baby-8

Just before yellow time,

the air smells different.

Like wet mud and dry grass 

with a sprinkle of sugar.

It is yellow time (AKA autumn) – kids and crows wait for the leaves to fall. When they do, it’s a celebration of yellow. Then kids and squirrels collect yellow leaves for nests and save them in heavy books to remember yellow time.

An arty celebration of fall.

While I admire Ms. Stringer’s sweeping brush strokes and the undulating waves of yellow in her illustrations, and while her writing is lyrical yet approachable, there is something about this book that I don’t connect with. It might simply be that ‘yellow time’ feels gimmicky to me. Even though I struggle to appreciate the story, I can see how other readers might like the very things I didn’t. 

There are plenty of good things about Yellow Time. It might be worth a read if you are a fall fan, if you really dig concept books, or if you’re looking for books with diverse characters that aren’t about social issues or diversity.

Will kids like this book? Some kids might. As a kid, I would not have and I’m not in love with it as an adult, either. 

Yellow Time by Lauren Stringer gets 3 stars from this reviewer.