Looking for yesterday

Title:

Author:

Summary:

What could beat yesterday’s perfect day at the fair? Maybe nothing, one boy thinks, and he wishes he could go back and do it again. So he puts all his scientific knowledge to work, from stars to time machines to wormholes (is it possible he could find one in his garden?). He thinks that maybe Grandad could help him. But Grandad, in sharing some memories from his own past, reminds him that every new day brings the chance of a new adventure. With quirky illustrations imparting a sense of wonder, Alison Jay takes a fanciful look at being content in the here and now. -- Amazon.

General Note:

First published by Old Barn Books (U.K.) 2017.

Edition:

First U.S. edition.

Physical Description:

1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 26 cm

Genre:

Picture books.

Subject Term:

Grandparent and child -- Juvenile fiction.

Imagination -- Juvenile fiction.

Space and time -- Juvenile fiction.

Happiness -- Juvenile fiction.

Publisher:

Candlewick Press,

Publication Date:

2019

2017

ISBN:

9781536204216

Publication Information:

Somerville, Massachusetts : Candlewick Press, 2019.

Call Number:

P JAY

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003655183	New Picture Books	JAY	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

If yesterday was the best day ever, wouldn't it be great to find a way to repeat it? A whimsical tale about happiness with sure appeal for science-minded kids -- and wise grandparents -- everywhere.

What could beat yesterday's perfect day at the fair? Maybe nothing, one boy thinks, and he wishes he could go back and do it again. So he puts all his scientific knowledge to work, from stars to time machines to wormholes (is it possible he could find one in his garden?). He thinks that maybe Grandad could help him. But Grandad, in sharing some memories from his own past, reminds him that every new day brings the chance of a new adventure. With quirky illustrations imparting a sense of wonder, Alison Jay takes a fanciful look at being content in the here and now.

Author Notes

Alison Jay has been illustrating picture books for some thirty years. She says that a radio program about time and space along with childhood memories of her rocket-engineer father inspired her to write and illustrate Looking for Yesterday. She lives in London.

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

PreS-Gr 2--A young boy had such a great time yesterday at an amusement park with his granddad that he tries to figure out a way to "go back and do it all again." Using scientific calculations, he reasons he would have to travel faster than light to get back. But no vehicles he knows go that fast. He also rules out a time machine, a "super hypersonic rocket," and shrinking himself to fit into a wormhole in space--if he could even find one. When he asks for help, his granddad takes out a photo album. As they pore over it together recalling happy times, Granddad tells the boy that wonderful days experienced in the past make fine memories indeed. But he should be happy now, because each day affords an opportunity for "new adventure." Jay's humorous oil paintings executed in her signature folk-art style with elongated characters on thin legs, depict a bespectacled boy wearing plaid like his grandfather. Her familiar crackled finishes appear only in scenes of the past. The many spreads are packed with details that invite repeated viewings. Animals fly across the sky, ice cream takes many forms, and giant straws and lemons float in a stream. A "Yesterday Tours" bus filled with old folks displays 1957 in the front. The boy tries out a large unicycle clock time machine and a garbage can rocket. VERDICT A wonderful choice for one-on-one sharing that demonstrates the value of science and contains a weighty message for both child and adult.--Marianne Saccardi, Children's Literature Consultant, Cambridge, MA

Publisher's Weekly Review

"Yesterday was the best day," a boy wearing pajamas reflects. "I wish I could go back and do it all again." Fantasy elements from the child's banner day tumble across his comforter: a merry-go-round, a T. rex, a gargantuan ice cream treat, and more. Jay (Bee and Me) paints the boy with thin spectacles, a round head, and rubbery limbs, and she illuminates his thoughts using delicate strokes against backdrops of sky blue and mossy green. To return to yesterday, he reasons, he would have to travel at "superluminal speed," faster than the speed of light, or perhaps-flattened first to infinitesimally small size-through a wormhole in space. He asks his snowy-bearded grandfather for help. Their relationship is warmly drawn as Granddad recalls a string of his own glorious days ("I have laughed until dawn with friends old and new"). They look through his sepia-tinted photo album, and he offers grandfatherly advice: memories are grand, "but every day brings the chance of a new adventure." Whether or not the moral persuades, the story's energy lies in its science fiction speculation, including the exciting possibility of shrinking to "one billion trillion trillionths of a centimeter." Ages 2-5. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.