Nancy Garhan Attebury (Children's Literature)
From the hugable cover illustration clear through to its end, this comforting bedtime lullaby will hold you in its grasp. Written in the form of a circle tale, the story runs from the opening page of "One wide sky" to the ending page with similar text. In between, two bushy tailed squirrels going about their daily business and three boys preparing to camp out in their backyard tent provide fun-filled entertainment. Daytime and nighttime themes play a subtle part, too. Basically a counting story, the text builds up to ten in the middle and back down to one at the end. Clouds, songbirds, feathers, dump trucks, bumblebees, and clovers are just some of the objects woven into the count. When "shadows butter the yard" and "fence posts stand guard" the reader knows all is well. This book is one that calls for reading again and again, and the simple rhyming text will be easily repeated after a few times. Delightful illustrations present new views with each read. Pick up this book and read it with a youngster. You will be glad you did. 2003, Gulliver Books/Harcourt, $16.00. Ages 2 to 5.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2003 (Vol. 71, No. 5))
A backyard comes alive as outdoor adventures of the human and animal inhabitants unfold side by side, then slowly wind down at nightfall. A personable family of squirrels peeks out to see new treats being poured into the bird feeder and tied to their tree. Scrambling for their share of the bounty, they become aware that they are not the only ones in the yard that day. The human inhabitants celebrate the sunny day with a picnic. Deciding to continue the day outdoors, they begin to set up a tent and string some lanterns. As the squirrels look on, the human mother kisses her sons goodnight and offers them a bowl of popcorn while the lucky squirrels return to their nest, paws full of apple cores and scavenged popcorn, picnic leavings, and bird seed. After counting up to "Nine clovers for a crown. Ten whirligigs spinning round," the day counts down to a close. "Three kisses soft and sweet. Two sleepyheads off to sleep. Under one big sky." Rich oil paintings illustrate the beautiful things suitable for counting in this quiet (and sometimes funny) look at nature. 2003, Gulliver/Harcourt, $16.00. Category: Picture book. Ages 2 to 5. © 2003 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Marita Richards (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 16, No. 3))
A pleasant story but not the typical bedtime story, this nature poem begins and concludes with the phrase, "One wide sky." The illustrations tell a parallel story as two playful squirrels gather food before bedtime and observe the activities of a mother and three boys who are planning a backyard campout. Although the words one through ten are used, it is not a true counting book. No printed number is shown in the illustrations. Children may want to count the objects mentioned in the text; however, it may be difficult to distinguish the four fir trees, as that illustration is soft and not distinct. Tim Bowers, also illustrator of the Little Whistle series by Cynthia Rylant, has created amusing illustrations of the squirrels. The most humorous picture is the one with the squirrel and the piece of bread crust; it frames the squirrel. Fiction. Grades PreK-K. 2003, Gulliver Books, Unpaged., $16.00. Ages 3 to 6.