Summertime Waltz

by Nina Payne, Gabi Swiatkowska (Illustrator)

A poetic interpretation of the summer evenings of childhood

Lovely the lateness
in summertime darkening.
Dinner is over.
The grownups are talking.

Seizing their moment, the children steal away from the dinner table to play out of doors, until it's too dark to see the ball and their mothers call them home.

Finely wrought oil paintings, beguiling and dreamlike in their detail, give a free-spirited interpretation of the poem. Together, words and pictures evoke the lush scents, sounds, and feel of the full lingering days of summer, when outside and inside is lost in the doorways.

Genres: Picture Books, Poetry, Childrens, Summer, Fantasy, Family, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Shelle Perry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surreal art poetry. Appropriate maybe for an art class, but not so much fun to read for young kids.

[Cera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures. A summer poem that captures whimsy.

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

More abstract with words flowing like a waltz

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this--the illustrations are beautiful and the words are whimsical and memorable. Added bonus is a lovely ode to summertime that can read--and was to me--in a waltz. All in all, everyone should have this book, young and old.

[Jessy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the collage style art that the book offers students to see and I also like how there are images for other drawings in it. The books seems to be more appropriate for grades 3-5 due to the complexity of understanding for the poem.

I liked how it was different, so I might use this in class to ask students to try to think outside the box too. I can encourage them to use their abilities to draw and compose their very own poems. Encouraging them to be individuals could be a great way to see students shine with their abilities.

[Rebecca Snodgrass · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful wonderful wonderful poem! It has the poem easily written on the first page, but then it repeats itself in this wonderfully exciting pictures. I will read this book to my class when we talk about poems. The pictures in this book are so unique and the theme is so true. In the summer no one leaves, but then all of a sudden everyone is gone. Goodness I just loved this book so much!

[Jennesy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book was okay. Nothing real exciting about it other than the odd pictures. I thought it was cool that the words were at the beginning of the book. I don't really understand poetry, but this may work for introducing a different kind of poetry.

[Logan Young]

Appropriate for 7 yr olds. Loved how in the beginning it was just the text of the poem. Then after you finish reading just the poem the author and illustrator combine the words with illustrations that go together. Quick read

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do admire how this book tries to capture the feel of both Summertime and music, but I don't think it quite succeeds at either.

The illustrations, however, were weird, other-worldy, and beautifully strange, so, of course, I loved them.

[Relyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love, love, love this book. The poem is marvelous and the art is even better. It's quirky and odd and wonderful. The poem and the art.

[Jennybeast · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent poetry beautifully rendered.

[Shaley Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really didnt enjoy this book very much. The pictures were nice but it was too spread out for me to be able to understand it.

[Madison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn't like this book. If it was hard for me to read the font at times I think it would be hard for students as well!

[Rebekah Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book did talk about what goes on during summer time. I did not like how the words were all over the page and in different faunts. It made it harder to read and understand.

[Aleisha Pendleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very fun poetry book. I loved the pictures. It would be great to use during a poetry unit.

[Breana Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a poem about summertime and various feelings a character goes through during summer

[Rani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summer...enjoy the long days and life...