Listen, Listen - Tapa dura

'I loved Listen, Listen... will encourage children to listen to the rustle of leaves and the plop of acorns.' --Amanda Craig, The Times

'In this ode to the seasons, the sights and sounds of a picturesque country village are artfully evoked. Under the summer sun, Leaves rustle, hammocks sway. Splish, splash, children play. In autumn, Pumpkins ripen, quick, quick. Apples, corn pick, pick. During winter, Crunch, crunch, boots clomp. Grown-ups shovel, children romp./Skaters spin, skiers glide. Zip, zoom, slip, slide. When spring arrives, Pop, pop, bulbs sprout. Leaves grow, flowers shout. Jay's crackled-varnish paintings have a nostalgic, folk-art quality. The rhyming, onomatopoeic text wraps around the busy scenes, and the words and art together provide a smooth transition between the seasons: summer's gone is illustrated with a swarm of insects buzzing off the page. An appended 'can you see' game encourages close examination of the changing landscapes. Children will be inspired to listen, listen in their own environments.' --School Library Journal

'Jay's stylized pictures, with the texture of ancient frescos, are a window into a world in which the buzz of an insect and the whoosh of the wind lend surprising emotion. Illustrations filled with snowmen, anthropomorphized animals, and people running through a leaf-swept field will make children long to discover what is just over a hill or around the next bend. Capturing a summer idyll reading in a hammock with the same care as a warm evening by the fireplace, Jay invests each image with both joy and melancholy. This jewel of a book will draw children back again and again.' --Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

Phillis Gershator has written more than twenty-five books for children. She has worked as a children's librarian and enjoys cooking, gardening, and especially reading. Phillis lives in the US Virgin Islands with her husband and frequent co-author, David. This is her first project with Barefoot Books Alison Jay graduated from the London College of Printing and worked in animation studios before moving into children's book illustrations. She loves to paint animals and works in alkyd a fast=drying oil paint, over which she applies a cracle glaxe varnish to create her instantly recognizable style.