''Time of Wonder'' is a 1957

children's A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

written and illustrated by

Robert McCloskey John Robert McCloskey (September 15, 1914 – June 30, 2003) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He both wrote and illustrated eight picture books, and won two Caldecott Medals from the American Library Association for t ...

that won the

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

in 1958.American Library Association
Caldecott Medal Winners, 1938 - Present
URL accessed 27 May 2009. The book tells the story of a family's summer on a

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

island overlooking

Penobscot Bay Penobscot Bay () is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine and Atlantic Ocean in south central Maine, a stretch known as Midcoast Maine, in a broader Atlantic region known as Down East. The bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River, ...

, filled with bright images and simple alliteration. Rain, gulls, a foggy morning, the excitement of sailing, the quiet of the night, and the sudden terror of a hurricane are all expressed in this book. This was McCloskey's second Caldecott, the first being ''

Make Way for Ducklings ''Make Way for Ducklings'' is an American children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey. First published in 1941 by the Viking Press, the book centers on a pair of mallards who raise their brood of ducklings on an island ...

'' in 1942. ''Time of Wonder'' was also made into an audiobook narrated by Tracy Lord and had been made into a 13-minute iconographic film narrated by Ted Hoskins, released by

Weston Woods Weston Woods Studios (or simply Weston Woods) is an American production company that makes audio and short films based on well-known books for children. It was founded in 1953 by Morton Schindel in Weston, Connecticut, and named after the wooded a ...

in 1961. In 2018, the film was re-made by Weston Woods with new narration by James Naughton.

Description

On the cover of the book we can see a girl with her sister sailing on a small boat enjoying the sea and the landscape. This book contains 63 pages with short text and is created for children between ages 3–8. The wonders of childhood are brought to life in this Caldecott Medal award-winning story of a family's summer vacation on an island off the coast of Maine. The illustrations made by Robert McCloskey allow readers to appreciate and understand his memories and experiences of the island. Time of Wonder was also made into an audiobook narrated by Tracy Lord.

Plot

This book tells readers about a family vacation in Penobscot Bay, off Maine Island. The girl describes every day as a great adventure, and how amazed she is by the forces of nature. Her time on the island is spent living in the moment, exploring the rocks which magically transform into a castle. The girl continues to explore, going under the sea and finding wonderful worlds and animals that people often do not notice. The girl describes Maine Island as a magical place where the stars at night look like a pair of eyes watching her. The girl plays with her sister and her dog enjoying the fog of the mornings and the smell of grass, as well as the power of the sheer wind brought by a hurricane that destroys everything in its way. But even after the storm, everything returns to calm, and at the end of her time on the island, she is ready to return with her family to the big city and face the routine again. In the illustrations of the book by McCloskey, the girl is always happy, playing and exploring her surrounding on Maine Island.

Critical reception

Goodreads Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and readi ...

called ''Time of Wonder'' a "classic" and praised its art for being "evocative" and "vibrant". Other book reviewers called McCloskey's work a "masterpiece". kids aboard magazine has praised ''Time of Wonder'', calling it a "classic that belongs on every family's bookshelf.". In a retrospective essay about the Caldecott Medal-winning books from 1956 to 1965, Norma R. Fryatt wrote of ''Time of Wonder'', "We feel a sense of wonder at these expressive pictures and of gratitude to the artist who has printed these scenes indelibly on our minds."

References

{{Caldecott Medal 1957 children's books American picture books Caldecott Medal–winning works Children's books set in Maine Viking Press books Books by Robert McCloskey Penobscot Bay