Terry Glover (Booklist, Jul. 1, 2004 (Vol. 100, No. 21))
Hot Day is the story of two girls having a "never-going-to-be-friends-again day." Mired in stubborn silence on a hot summer day, Kishi and Renee refuse to do anything together--not even when Mr. Paul asks for help in his garden or when Miss Johnson suggests they make lemonade. The glue needed to put this duo back together comes in the form of a red-hot game of double-dutch, a siren's song to the eager players. The day's sleights are forgotten as the game kicks into high gear, one chant after another buoying the participants beyond the sticky temperatures. When the ice cream man comes around, a shared blue ice pop strengthens the bonds of friendship anew. English's story is engaging in its own right, but it is Steptoe's stunning, mixed-media illustrations that make the book soar like a champion jumper. Hopefully this summery charmer will prove the first of many collaborations between these two Coretta Scott King award winners. Category: Books for the Young--Fiction. 2004, Clarion, $15. K-Gr. 2.

Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature)
When it's "too hot even to flutter a fan," Kishi and Renée are having a best-friend-breakup day. Each tries to keep busy; both reject the chance to work together with obliging neighbors. For Renée wants Kishi to apologize for buying the last blue ice pop when she knows they are her favorite. But they are Kishi's favorite too. It is only the sound of the jump rope and the double Dutch chants that lure them both down the street to take an end of the rope. The hot day becomes a "ropes-making-a-rainbow day." Everyone on the street stops to listen to the chanting and the thumping rope. When the ice cream truck arrives, Kishi gets the last blue pop. But this time she shares it with Renée. And it becomes a "feeling-good-about-being best-friends-again day." We can feel the jump rope's rhythm in the page designs, in the organization of the striking impressionistic images of cut paper and found objects set in isolated boxes on the white pages, in the arcs of jumping rhymes echoing the swinging rope as Renée's cornrow braids are in perpetual motion. The players act in harmony with the streets and buildings suggesting the cityscape. We can almost lick the dripping blue ice pops as the heat of day subsides. 2004, Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Company, $15.00. Ages 5 to 8.

CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices, 2005)
Hot days sure can make tempers short,” says Miss Johnson when Kishi and Renee refuse to talk to one another. Instead the two girls glare at each other from their respective porches. It’s a hot day on Abbott Avenue, and no matter what kind of distraction the adults concoct to make the girls forgive one another, it’s a “best-friend-breakup day” and a “never-speak-to-her-again-even-if-she-was-the last-person-on-earth day.” Extraordinarily intricate collages of paper cuts depict the people in motion in the neighborhood and create an urban rhythm through the movement of bodies. Finally it’s the sound of other girls jumping rope that lures Kishi and Renee back to their friendship, and when the ice cream man comes selling blue popsicles (the initial source of disagreement) Kishi shares hers with Renee. The last page shows the girls with blue lipped smiles, “feeling-good-about-being-best-friends day.” CCBC categories: Picture Books for School-Aged Children. 2004, Clarion, 32 pages, $15.00. Ages 5-9.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2004 (Vol. 72, No. 9))
It's a hot day-it's also a "best-friend-breakup day." As Miss Johnson works her crossword puzzle and dozes, as Mr. Paul weeds his flower bed, Kishi and Renée remain resolutely apart: it appears that Kishi bought the very last blue ice pop, even though she knows that's Renée's favorite. It's a "never-speak-to-her-again-even-if-she-was-the-last-person-on-earth day." But then the siren song of jump-rope chanting calls and the girls are reunited in double-dutch-finding final resolution in one last, shared blue ice pop. English has childhood spats down pat, the apocalyptic sundering of a friendship miraculously healed by play. Steptoe's textured collage illustrations feature tissue-paper clothing over paper skin, all set against a background of rough wooden boards. He renders facial features in a highly naturalistic manner, with outsized lips and flat noses; it's an effect that may initially be off-putting for readers accustomed to smooth prettiness, but the total effect is both original and emotionally effective (particularly when the girls are squinty-mad, the ugliness of their emotions showing up clearly on their faces). The final scenes, of play and ice pops, are full of movement and energy and joy. "So good!" 2004, Clarion, 32p, $15.00. Category: Picture book. Ages 5 to 8. © 2004 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Anne Hanson (Library Media Connection, March 2005)
This beautiful book tells the story of best friends who are not friends on this hot summer day. The narrative is matter-of-fact and straightforward, and it draws the reader into the story and the beautiful pictures. Javaka Steptoe is brilliant with his collage designs. A hose is made of rope with water made of curled paper; the hair of some characters flies off their heads. Most illustrations are divided into sections, much like a comic book. The two former best friends have shared so much that they are slowly drawn back to their common delights. They move from "a best-friend-breakup day" to a "ropes-making-a-rainbow day!" This book is full of life and beauty. Recommended. 2004, Clarion Books, 32pp., $15 hc. Ages 7 to 10.

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, June 2004 (Vol. 57, No. 10))
Hot days sure can make tempers short," says neighbor Miss Johnson, observing the spat between former best friends Kishi and Renée (Kishi bought the last blue ice pop from the ice cream man, even though she knew blue was Renée's favorite). Despite gentle attempts at peacemaking by the neighbors, the two girls sigh and sneer and sulk at each other from their front yards and porches throughout the overheated summer day. The magical sound of a jump-rope chant drifting down the street lures them both over for a session of double-dutch, however, and the energy and camaraderie of jumping rope cools the girls' tempers; when the ice cream man comes around and Kishi once again buys the last blue pop, she shares it with her friend. English's atmospheric text has the slow, sultry pace of a humid day, but it also understands the sudden invigoration a new event can provide; while kids may think Renée is letting Kishi off easy (since she's still a whole blue pop ahead of Renée), they'll understand that the pleasures of icy blue slurping ("Pale blue juice drops down their arms--all the way down to their elbows") can overcome such petty arithmetic. Steptoe's arresting illustrations rely largely on cut paper, assembled for maximum dimensionality and enhanced with bits of string, wood, and other elements. The details of the collage sometimes overpower the compositions--the dramatic textures are as evident in the background as the foreground--but the multilayered faces are strong-featured and powerful, and the girls' blue-teethed final grins add a welcome touch of humor. This doesn't have quite the polish of Joosse's Hot City, reviewed below, but audiences will sympathize with the falling-out-with-a-friend blues even as they long for their own blue popsicles. (Reviewed from galleys) Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2004, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2004, Clarion, 32p, $15.00. Ages 5-8 yrs.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2004)
On a sweltering day when the "fat sun drifts in the blue sky," best friends Kishi and Renée are not speaking. Finally, the siren song of a double-dutch chant from down the street lures the pair back together. The high-energy collage illustrations layer paper onto roughly painted planks of wood. This is a satisfying summer story about community and friendship, and about the way hot weather can spark hot tempers. Category: Picture Books. 2004, Clarion, 32pp, $15.00. Ages 4 to 9. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.

Bonne Bosco (The Kutztown University Book Review, Fall 2005)
Two friends spend a hot day (on Abbott Avenue) ignoring each other after a silly fight. By the end of the day, they are drawn back together by the temptation to play jump rope with some neighborhood kids. Hot Day on Abbott Avenue is a sweet story guided by dialogue and illustration. This neighborhood has a sense of community, within a larger city, where everyone knows each other by name. Best friends, Kish and Renee, are not speaking to each other. Everyone, from Mrs. Johnson to the neighborhood kids, is trying to get them back together. The illustrations, colorful paper collage, set the mood of a hot day—so hot you would sacrifice your best friend for your favorite flavor popsicle—blue! The fight is forgotten, as easily as it began, with the help of a game of double-dutch. The writing style is very casual, mostly in the dialect of the characters, with descriptive and simple bits like “a forgetting-all-about-what-you-were-mad-about day.” Category: . 2004, Clarion Books, $15.00. Ages 5 to 9.