$16.
On a warm summer night, sit outside and listen to the crickets' song and you can imagine, if you suspend disbelief, a party of some sort. That's what Irene Haas must have done as she wrote the lilting lyrics of "Summertime Song."
Everyone from the garden was at the party!Crickets sang summertime songs,
caterpillar clowns
served sweet tips of clover,
and there was dancing . . .
If, on the summer night, you happen to be at Grandma's house, the magic is assured!
Lucy was at Grandma's when a frog, sporting a magic paper hat, jumped through the window with an invitation to the party. From then on, it's a magical party that includes small forest creatures; a ride in the bird-nest taxi; and making friends with Madam Mouse, inch worm and a little lost doll. And what a party it was until Owl appeared: "YUM YUM!" he howled. "MY DINNER!"
The creatures, including Lucy, are saved by a sudden rainstorm. But, persistent Owl returns only to find that the party is for him! It's his birthday!
Not since Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" has there been such a splendid journey and celebration. Using Sendak's vernacular, you'd have to say this is a "wild rumpus!"
Haas has conceived some very alluring characters. Lucy is the epitome of a sweet child who accepts a journey because she believes in magic. The insects and animals are charming, even Madame Mouse (and this reader dislikes mice!)
What propels "A Summertime Song" skyrocketing above many other forest fantasies are the illustrations. Haas has used full-color waterpaints to their exquisite best. There's a delicious eeriness in the forest where half-eaten leaves and twigs are interspersed with beetles and bugs of every imaginable color and design. The clay-colored moths swoop around Owl as protection to Lucy, but the agile cockatoo, turtle and spotted fish really save the day. While the subtle earth tones dominate most of the art, a full two-page spread is alive with colorful and outlandish party celebrations including a banjo-playing frog, a horn-blowing rabbit and a mole pumping an accordion.
Owl is a wonderful protagonist bedecked in black chimney-sweep-type hat and laced brogans. His winsome grin is evident when he sees his splendiferous white birthday cake - delivered on the back of a turtle - but the craftiness in his eye is also not missed.
The reader is completely fulfilled when Lucy returns to her grandmother - naturally wearing crochet hooks in her hair - who is presented with the lost doll, one that the old lady lost when she was a child. The circle is complete! Grandma probably had the same party when she was a girl and celebrates again, as grandmas do, over the magical achievements of their grandchildren.
"A Summertime Song" is a masterpiece that warrants reading time and time again. Will it replace "Where the Wild Things Are"? Probably not. There's not nearly the robust verve and energy of the Sendak book where a child is naughty and receives a punishment for being a "wild thing!" Nor does Lucy make a blatant statement about running away to become in control of all the wild creatures. She is simply playing out a magical story of many childhood dreams. But it is one that deserves to be placed right next to the other fantasy picture books, including Sendak's, and that's where it will remain on my shelf.