Something About the Sky

Praise

Carson’s quietly eloquent essay offers a stirring mix of natural observations and insights. . . . the illustrator creates misty, evocative cloudscapes behind and above views of seas and mountains in various weathers and seasons, as well as spare glimpses of human figures diverse in terms of age, with skin the color of the page, mostly with inward gazes. Overall, the effect is solemn, stately…bound to leave readers in a meditative mood. Contemplative and stirring—definitely for wonderers.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Images inspired, per a creator’s note, by the ever-changing forms of cloud and sky engage with the text’s precision while adding warmth and vividness via scenes of people experiencing the world’s wonders. It’s a fitting jumping-off place from which to contemplate “the writing of the wind on the sky”—and continue noticing the natural world.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

This previously unpublished essay from “poet of science” Carson (1907–1964) is paired beautifully with McClure’s cut-paper and swirling ink-wash art. . . . [Caron’s] thoughts are as wonderfully ruminative as one might expect from the environmental scientist and nature-writing icon. . . . In an endnote, McClure explains the origins of Carson’s essay, how the book project came about, and the thoughtful and resourceful process she used to create the illustrations.
—The Horn Book (starred review)

A fascinating collaboration from a distance of nearly 70 years, McClure’s sensitive visual realizations of Carson’s evocative words create a deeply satisfying wholeness, where science is conveyed through poetic words and art reveals the majesty of the natural world. This informative and inspiring picture book is—as McClure comments in her thoughtful afterword about Carson’s writing—beautifully “calm and clean and comforting.”
—Booklist