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When the Sky is Like Lace
What happens when it's bimulous and the sky is like lace? Strange and splendid things! Otters sing, trees dance, and the grass is like gooseberry jam. There's a special party that anyone can attend. Anyone, that is, who knows the rules and isn't afraid of plum-purple shadows, can cook spaghetti and would like to teach a new song to the otters.
Back by popular demand, this
...moreHardcover, 32 pages
Published
June 3rd 2004
by Viking Juvenile
(first published 1975)
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Sep 25, 2009
Abigail
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Singing Otters and Their Friends
Recommended to Abigail by:
Kathryn
Shelves:
childrens-poetry,
picture-books
Review Temporarily Removed.
3 likes · like · see review
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I could give this book a million stars. I often checked it out of the library when I was a child. When I started to look for it to own in the early 2000s used copies were going for hundreds of dollars. My friend asked me if this book was touched by the hand of God since it was going for so much used. Needless to say I was ecstatic when it was reissued in 2004, yet I still never bought a copy. I asked for it for Christmas and received it. As of now the lowest price on Amazon is $71.01.
I will alw...more
I will alw...more
If you are the sort who savors words and tosses unrelated thoughts together like a salad you will eat up this book, perfectly illustrated by the inimitable Barbara Cooney. (This should have won a Caldecott)!
Now, pick up a big plate and meander down the smorgasbord . . .
"On a bimulous night, the sky is like lace."
I remember a night like this. I noticed the sky while driving home from work. I told all my children to get in the van, while I grabbed a large blanket. We went to the park and walked r...more
Now, pick up a big plate and meander down the smorgasbord . . .
"On a bimulous night, the sky is like lace."
I remember a night like this. I noticed the sky while driving home from work. I told all my children to get in the van, while I grabbed a large blanket. We went to the park and walked r...more
I was absolutely charmed by this magical little poetic story. It centers around the happenings of a "bimulous night" when "the sky is like lace." (So far as I know, "bimulous" is a term coined by Horwitz to describe such a sky.) When these nights happen, "everything is strange-splendid and plum-purple" and otters sing and join you for a spaghetti dinner (make sure you don't wear anything orange!) and the trees go swaying and swishing "in the fern-deep grove at the midnight end of the garden." It...more
5 likes · like · see review
"On a bimulous night, the sky is like lace..." ...magic is in the air and on the pages of this beautifu children's book. Singing otters, lucky pennies, and trees that "dance the eucalyptus" await.
"When the otters are tuning their voices,
And the snails are lining up two by two,
And the trees are aslant at the midnight end of the garden,
And the sky--the sky--Oh, look at the sky!"
I really enjoyed this one, and suspect my childhood self would've loved it, too. Pretty illustrations and great use of i...more
"When the otters are tuning their voices,
And the snails are lining up two by two,
And the trees are aslant at the midnight end of the garden,
And the sky--the sky--Oh, look at the sky!"
I really enjoyed this one, and suspect my childhood self would've loved it, too. Pretty illustrations and great use of i...more
UPDATE: I finallly found a copy I could afford! The cheapest one I could find at first was $46 and they went up from there. But I searched for several months on eBay and finally found one for $10. More than a year has gone by since I initially reviewed this book, so I read it aloud to Logan again and he loved it! His language skills are so much stronger now than when he was 5 1/2 and he got the jokes. He loves otters, so that helped too. So glad to have my own copy. Increased our review from 4 s...more
This is my all-time favorite children's book! It caters to my love for good art and poetry,for whimsy, for a touch of fantasy. I discovered it as a teenager and have wanted to share it with every group of children I've known since. It has been in and out of print ... and I really can't understand why. It is a masterpiece that has me keeping a clean hankerchief on hand to look to see if the man in the moon will wink at me.
I love this book. The writing, the illustrations. It is perfect.
It makes me want to have children just so I'd have an excuse to read it aloud every day.
That is how amazing it is.
It makes me want to have children just so I'd have an excuse to read it aloud every day.
That is how amazing it is.
Amazingly evocative, imaginative book. So enjoyable to read (& sing!) aloud, and the illustrations fit it beautifully.
As a night owl, any book that champions disobeying bedtime is okay by me.
Well, I want this book. So I could read it every other day.
Sweet, beautiful, fantastical.
So dreamy!
One of the first books that hooked my imagination, belief in magic, beauty, and power of women. It went out of print and I searched for years to get a hold of a copy. I finally did and now read this splendid book to my children. Halloween is the best time of year to pull this book out to read since it's slightly spooky without giving too much away. It makes you think about the magic behind the everyday. I love it. Read it and fall in love too.
i don't actually own this book but it was my favorite picture book to check out from the library when i was little. it is super creative, whimsical and gorgeous. I ordered a used copy for my niece and the illustrations weren't as lush as I remembered them to be, but I hope she enjoyed the story. It is out of print for some dumb reason--something that I hope changes in the near future...
It reminds me of songs by the band Belly.
It reminds me of songs by the band Belly.
I remember reading this book as a 7-year-old and loving it. I had borrowed it from the library and it was magical. And then I never saw it or found it again, but always remembered it. Now I've got my very own copy 25 years later through the magic of the internet! And it's still just as wonderful as it was when I was small. A very special book.
Truly magical.
Bimulous. I’m surprised the word hasn’t caught on; I’d never heard of it until I read this book. What a lovely word. “On a bimulous night when the sky is like lace…”
The illustrations are beautiful and unusual, and the story is certainly original.
Bimulous. I’m surprised the word hasn’t caught on; I’d never heard of it until I read this book. What a lovely word. “On a bimulous night when the sky is like lace…”
The illustrations are beautiful and unusual, and the story is certainly original.
This is a great book to capture the imaginations of kids. It also has great big words that aren't often used that are fun to say like, bimulous to describe the sky. My favorite is it's description of a place in the garden called, "the midnight end of the garden."
Beautiful book, promising magic that happens on "bimulous night when the sky is like lace". Kids were enchanted by it, as was I. Very sad that this book is out of print now and used copies cost mad money.Hoping for re-print in the foreseeable future.
One of my all time favorite children's books. I checked this one out of the library so often that my Mother remembered it. When the library purged their collection, she brought it home and gave it to me.
Gorgeous watercolor paintings by Barbara Cooney. One of my all-time favorite children's books. Sillyness in a soft, magical, night-time, girl-centered sort of way.
This book is so adorable. I really really love it. I think I need to find a copy to send to my littlest nieces.
who wouldn't want to sing with an otter on a bimulous night?
Dec 05, 2009
Johanna
added it
thanks susan!
May 10, 2013
Alex
marked it as to-read
May 06, 2013
Emmie
marked it as to-read
Apr 13, 2013
Igraine
marked it as auf-gar-keinen-fall
Apr 02, 2013
Valmont
marked it as to-read
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