Yellow Time

by Lauren Stringer

Lauren Stringer celebrates the coming of autumn in this exuberant, joyful ode to that magical time when the leaves are changing color and the animals are preparing for winter.

Children and animals alike excitedly anticipate yellow time, when the trees release their colorful leaves to blanket the earth, crows raise their voices joyfully from the bare branches, and squirrels busy themselves preparing their nests for winter. This lyrical celebration of the beauty and fun of autumn is sure to become a perennial fall favorite.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Nature, Juvenile, Fiction, Art

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 20, 2016

About the author

LAUREN STRINGER is an artist, author, and theatrical designer living in Minneapolis, MN. She received her BA in Art and Art History from the University of California, Santa Cruz and continued her art education with the Whitney Museum of American Art, Independent Study Program in NYC. She has exhibited her paintings and sculptures in museums and galleries across the country. In 1991 she received the McKnight Foundation Fellowship for sculpture. In 1994, Stringer’s first picture book, Mud, written by Mary Lyn Ray, won a Minnesota Book Award, IRA Children’s Choice Award, and Crayola Kids Best Book of the Year Award. Since Mud, she has continued illustrating many award-winning picture books, including Scarecrow and Snow, both written by Cynthia Rylant, Fold Me A Poem, written by Kristine O’Connell George, Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story, written by Lisa Westberg Peters, and Tell Me About Your Day Today, written by Mem Fox. She wrote and illustrated Winter is the Warmest Season, a Booklist Editor’s Choice and a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award. Her story When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky won the McKnight Foundation Fellowship for writing in Children’s Literature in 2012 and was published in spring 2013 to many starred reviews. Deer Dancer, written by Mary Lyn Ray, will be published spring 2014. When not writing and illustrating picture books, Stringer is the scriptwriter and set designer for Circus Juventas, America’s largest youth circus school as well as a visiting author/artist in the schools.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good argument for keeping older books in print. If this appeals, why don't the ones dismissed as "out of date" appeal? This sure does look just like them!

[Donalyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect book for fall. Beautiful.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute idea. I just kept thinking, fall has so many other colors, too!

[Karen Witzler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great book about autumn for pre-schoolers. Pre-schoolers who live in New England or similar climes, that is.Features a multicultural neighborhood, squirrels, and lots of yellow leaves - and crows! Just like my neighborhood.

[Ms. B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new story for autumn/fall, yea!

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a celebration of the anticipation of yellow time arriving, and readers will recognize the in-between feeling that occurs during summer and fall. The array of beautiful yellows and powerful use of white space in the illustrations highlight the splendor of the fall season. With poetic language and diverse children featured in the illustrations, the story is accessible for a wide audience and will appeal to those who love the beauty of the changing seasons.

[Lara Lleverino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about the time when tree leaves turn yellow and fall. Excellently illustrated. I really appreciated the diversity shown in the children illustrated in this picture book.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The geese are flying south, the squirrels are busy and the crows are the only birds left in the trees. The air smells different and everyone knows that the trees must drop their leaves soon. Then the wind comes and the air fills with yellow leaves. Children run outside and play in the swirling yellow breezes. When the leaves have fallen, the yellow is in piles on the ground, covering everything. Children gather the leaves to press in books to remember the special time just before winter comes with its whiteness.

Stringer shares the drama of autumn in this picture book. She uses phrases like “a symphony of yellow” to capture the wonder of what is happening, mixing senses of sound and color together. When she describes the smell of autumn just before the leaves fall, she uses comparisons that children will understand: “Like wet mud and dry grass with a sprinkle of sugar.” It offers up the richness and deepness of the smell, the intangible dryness that is part of it and the sweetness as well. She skillfully creates autumn on the page with her words.

The illustrations celebrate the diversity of a small neighborhood filled with yellow trees and the children who wait for the falling leaves to start. There is a gorgeous overload of yellow on the pages, bright and cheerful, filled with motion and tumbling breezes and leaves. The pages are just as fresh and vibrant as the season she is depicting.

A joyous book that welcomes autumn with open arms. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lauren Stringer tells the story of what happens in the autumn when the trees outside release their leaves and cover the world in yellow. Maybe it was just me, but I initially wondered why Stringer chose just the color yellow. After all, the autumns that I've experienced in the Northeastern USA have been combinations of red, orange, and yellow. It was interesting to read on the inside flap that Stringer was describing the ash trees of her first fall after a move to Minneapolis. She describes this autumn so vividly in the book that you feel as if you are there.

The illustrations have a warm and cozy feel to them. Maybe it's Stringer's use of lots of yellow in the images, the mix of watercolor and acrylic in the illustrations that creates a soft and playful feel in the pages, or the happy children who enjoy the fall. I really loved the simple text and use of various senses including smell and sound as well as sight. Beautiful story!

[Linda Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is all about the illustrations. Loved them!

[Alyisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really lovely. Stringer evokes great images & feelings of Fall. She almost made me love it and forget that it signals the end of summer. ;)

[Joanne Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal look at the emotions felt when the trees turn yellow and the leaves begin to fall. Children play, squirrels scamper, wind blows. Lyrical. Puts you in the mood for autumn.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author/illustrator Lauren Stringer offers a tribute to the first coming of autumn—the eponymous Yellow Time—in this seasonal picture book celebration of the season. Heralded by the crows, this change in season brings showers of yellow leaves, and windy days of breathtaking beauty...

Poetic text is paired with bright watercolor and acrylic illustrations in Yellow Time, which offers an appealing look at the autumnal season. I enjoyed the brightness of the book, and the fact that it focuses on a color—yellow—less frequently associated with the season than some others (such as orange and red). I did rather wish that some attention was paid in the narrative to the source of all this yellow—namely, the ash trees which predominate in Minnesota and other parts of the midwest—but leaving that aside I found this one enjoyable, and recommend it to those seeking picture books about autumn, and the changing of the leaves. It would make a nice companion to similar titles where other kinds of trees and other colors predominate.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Synopsis: There is a very special part of fall - yellow time! When all the leaves have turned color and they are hanging on by one last thread just waiting for that big wind gust to blow them away! What does yellow time sound like? Feel like? Smell like? Lauren Stinger shares the beauty of this limited time event with grace!

My Reaction: Nice fall book that reminds us to stop and appreciate the beauty of the leaves as they fall off the tree! Beautiful pictures and wonderful text.

Uses: Great for a simple read aloud during fall with your own kids at home to entice a leaf pile and fight! Also, a good read aloud in class during fall. It can also be used to talk about writing and how writers show don't tell about what is happening in a text (the air smells different, like wet mud and dry grass with a sprinkle of sugar or yellow time - never actually says fall)!

[Bléu · Rating 3 out of 5]

So bright! and yellow ! you will really feel the joy and magic autumn brings every year, once you read this children's book. yellow time is also one of my favourite time, next to the white time, haha. how cute this book is. and no doubt, beautifully drawn once again. i have now been fond of lauren stringer's illustrations--so cute!

~*~
"The squirrels are too busy to notice. And the geese have already gone."

"Everyone is ready. The trees can't hold on forever."

"Everywhere fills with yellow. A symphony of yellow."

[Asho · Rating 4 out of 5]

We wanted some fall books from the library and this one appealed to me, so I checked it out to read with my kindergartener. We both liked it a lot. The text is lyrical, and the text and illustrations combine to very effectively set a fall mood. I like the focus on yellow. Most fall books talk about all of the fall colors, but there's something nice about focusing on just the yellow. It's particularly appealing because our yard is mostly yellow in the fall.

[Amy Layton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This artistic book celebrates the beauty of the changing seasons, the beauty of leaves flying through the wind, settling on the ground.  It evokes Matisse's "Dance", and in doing so compares the beauty of such a painting to the beauty that emanates from young children excited about playing outside.  This book is just fantastic, fun, and overall perfect for the changing seasons.  Great for grades K-2.

Review cross-listed here!

[This Teacher is Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a beautiful books! The writing is fabulous and the illustrations are gorgeous. This book never says that yellow time is fall, so this is a great book for students to practice using context clues to determine meaning. Also, just a great fall read aloud in general! It could also lead to a writing activity in which students write about their favorite season or holiday without saying its name.

Teaching Topics:
-Fall
-Context clues
-Writing

[Storytime Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great storytime book for young preschool. It was a great length for their attention span and there was a wonderful amount of descriptive words. We WHOOSHED! together when the wind came and swept all the leaves from the tree.

I really enjoyed the poetic feel to this picture book and I think it captured the imagination of my storytime crowd.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A picture book about autumn that refers to the season as “yellow time.” An okay book to use for talking about fall, although some of the imagery feels a little hard to relate to, such as the air smelling “Like wet mud and dry grass/ with a sprinkle of sugar” and crows “rais[ing] their voices in praise of yellow time.”

[Rahmadiyanti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buku cantik tentang fall season (musim gugur). Ilustrasinya manis, ceritanya puitis.

Just before yellow time,
the air smells different.
Like wet mud and dry grass
with a sprinkle of sugar.

Meski, kalau anak-anak dari negeri tropis atau negeri padang pasir baca, mungkin agak sulit membayangkan 😉

3,3 stars.

[Sadina Shawver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very beautiful use of color. I read this title as part of an early art skills / Storytime combo class with our museum partner, Pearl Fincher. I think this book probably has a bigger oomph to it in areas that experience vibrant leaf color changes. Our small art kiddos had a difficult time staying engaged. Lovely story, though.

[Loraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful children's book about the yellow leaves in fall and all that children and animals can do with the leaves when they turn, fall, and go away. The illustrations are wonderful, and I loved that the groups of children depict children from all over the globe playing together.

Definitely an easy read for beginning readers or for reading to babies and toddlers.

[Dannaca · Rating 3 out of 5]

We read this for our autumn leaf story time. It's a fun take on an autumn story and each page is absolutely gorgeous. There's not a whole lot of 'story' here, but it's a nice little ode to the yellow leaves of fall. It's good for a younger crowd because there's plenty to see and it's vibrant and eye catching!

[Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book celebrates autumn beautifully by focusing on one color - yellow. The author uses wonderful descriptions and illustrations to show the sensory pleasures of this particular aspect of the season, when all the leaves are yellow.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

"A symphony of yellow."
I can't wait try writing green and white versions with kids. (I am curious whether they will protest that there is more than just yellow in autumn. I found myself saying, but but. But okay, yes. Yellow.)

[BiblioBeruthiel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one is okay, and something to keep in mind for next fall as a backup book, but I really dislike books that encourage not using the correct words for things. Kids are smart, they don't need to call autumn "yellow time."

[Cecilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cool book about the fall that definitely feels unique. Instead of focusing on the holidays or using the usual red-orange-brown colors most fall books obsess over, this book is an ode to the color yellow!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love autumn but I don't think I live in an area that gets much yellow. It is more red and oranges. Either way this book is nicely illustrated and a celebration of the changing season. I associate yellow more with summer but also with joy.

[E & E’s Mama · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lyrical book that uses “yellow time” as a synonym for autumn, with brightly yellow leaves on every page as the text described different fun things we do during Yellow Time

*library book; read at 2 years old (probably best for 3 and older)