Children's Boom Review: The Day is Waiting by Don Freeman and Linda Zuckerman

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge,from Zonderkids Publishing, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it


You might remember beloved author/illustrator Don Freeman from his classic book,Corduroy. After his death in 1978, colleagues and his wife decided to use his never before published artwork to make a commemorative book using his wonderful illustrations. 

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Paired with Linda Zuckerman's thoughtful rhyming text, The  takes readers on a tour of our big, wide world and reminds us that no matter how far we roam, we always have home to come back to.This classic tale is imbued with Freeman’s gentle humor, spontaneity, and his appreciation of the variety and complexity of human experiences, creating a book that children will enjoy reading again and again. 

Review:

This new edition was released last month, and iis aimed at the 408 yr old crowd, but I can see it easily being given to any child that is graduatiing to a new school, to remind them of all the possibilities that are ahead of them. Having just watched a movie set in London, Miss Grace easily recognized their landmarks, and eagerly told me it is a city she wants to visit! And as she reminded me, home should ALWAYS be the place you want to come home to, as that is where you keep your memories, so you can visit them over and over again! Yup, sometimes 8 yr old logic flays me!  


About the Author and Illustrator:

Don Freeman was the author and illustrator of many popular books for children, including Corduroy, A Pocket for Corduroy, and the Caldecott Honor Book Fly High, Fly Low.

Don Freeman was born in San Diego, California, in 1908. After graduating from high school, he ventured to New York City to study art under the tutelage of Joan Sloan and Harry Wickey at the Art Students' League. He managed to support himself throughout his schooling by playing his trumpet evenings, in nightclubs and at weddings.Gradually, he eased into making a living sketching impressions of Broadway shows for The New York Times and The Herald Tribune. This shift was helped along, in no small part, by a rather heartbreaking incident; he lost his trumpet. 

He was introduced to the world of Childrens' Literature, when William Saroyan asked him to illustrate several books. Soon after, he began to write and illustrate his own books, a career he settled into comfortably and happily. Through his writing, he was able to create his own theater: "I love the flow of turning the pages, the suspense of what's next. Ideas just come at me and after me. It's all so natural. I work all the time, long into the night, and it's such a pleasure. I don't know when the time ends. I've never been happier in my life!" Don died in 1978, after a long and successful career. He created many beloved characters in his lifetime, perhaps the most beloved among them a stuffed, overall-wearing bear, named Corduroy.

<Linda Zuckerman grew up in Brooklyn and has lived in the Pacific Northwest for almost fifteen years. She has been a children's book editor for more than forty years on both coasts, having held executive editorial positions at several major publishing houses. Linda is the editor of three books that were awarded the Caldecott Medal and two that received Newbery Honor citations. Linda lives with her husband, an artist, near Portland, Oregon.


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