The Days Are Long, the Years Are Short

PreS-Gr 3–Morton makes her picture book debut with this visual ode to traditional middle-class North American family summer vacation at a country house. The primary-hued palette of woodblock illustrations are thoughtfully composed and filled with sumptuous shadows, lovely patterns, and brushstrokes that succeed in conveying movement. The accompanying text, however, and the narrative it builds, reads as a comforting, grounding text for an adult caregiver, who could do with some self-compassion while expressing “I love you with all my heart” to the child listener. Paradoxes of the vacation-work shouldered by caregivers while “at play” are squarely aimed at empathizing with the adult laborer, particularly the refrain which reappears every few pages: “The days are long,/ but when I’m with you,/ I blink and the years fly by.” The long-view perspective and the adult refrain work against the dynamic, joyful scenes of work and play, and may not be appreciated by the young reader/listener who happens upon this text.