The Sky Was Blue

by Charlotte Zolotow, Garth Williams (Illustrator)

A young girl learns that the really important things in life remain the same from one generation to the next.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Charlotte Zolotow was a distinguished American writer, editor, and publisher who made a lasting mark on children's literature. Over her career, she authored around 70 picture book texts and edited works by prominent writers including Paul Zindel, Robert Lipsyte, and Francesca Lia Block. Born in Norfolk, Virginia, she studied writing at the University of Wisconsin Madison and later joined Harper & Bros in New York, where she worked her way up from secretary to publisher. Her own books were published by over 20 houses, and she became known for her poetic and emotionally insightful texts. Zolotow’s most celebrated works include When the Wind Stops, William’s Doll, and River Winding. Her story "Enemies" was featured in The Big Book for Peace alongside other notable authors. She lived for many years in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. Her legacy endures not only through her own writing but also through the Charlotte Zolotow Award, established in 1998 to honor outstanding picture book texts. Her contributions helped shape modern children's literature with sensitivity, elegance, and enduring relevance.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published in 1963, this vintage picture-book brings together prolific author and editor Charlotte Zolotow, and immensely talented illustrator Garth Williams - who also collaborated on Over and Over and Do You Know What I'll Do? - in an immensely sweet story of a girl, and her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. When the girl sees a photograph of her mother at her age, she asks what her mother's life was like, and how she felt, and receives a two-part answer: her clothing, dolls, home and means of transportation all looked different, but other things - the color of the sky and grass, the feel of snow - was just the same. As it was for the young girl's grandmother and great-grandmother...

I liked the quiet gentleness of The Sky Was Blue, its sense of looking back, through the generations of a young girl's female ancestors, and spotting both the differences and similarities between then and 'now.' The artwork, as could be expected, this being Garth Williams - whose work will always be associated, in my mind, with books like The Cricket in Times Square , Charlotte's Web , and the various Little House on the Prairie books - was very engaging, and captures the charm of each generation's surroundings and accoutrements. Recommended for children who wonder what the lives of previous generations looked like, and to fans of Garth Williams' work.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet find at the used bookstore, this is a lovely little story that debuted in the early 1960s. Other reviewers commented on it's old-fashionedness being a drawback but I think it's an endearing feature. The story is about a little girl who sees a photograph of her mother when she was her age and the girl is intrigued by the clothes the mother wore and wonders what life was like back then. The mother shows her more pictures such as the doll she had and the house she lived in, but explains that they sky was still blue, the grass was still green, and her mother still loved her and tucked her in at night with a hug--just as the mother does for her own little girl now. This is repeated for the girls' grandmother and great-grandmother so I think we get glimpses of the 1930s, 19-teens, and late 1800s. The repetition does get a teensy bit tedious, but I appreciate the sentiment behind it; the superficial things change (our clothes, the style of our dolls and houses) but the important things (like a mother's love) stay the same. I absolutely love Garth Williams' illustrations; he's been a favorite of mine since my childhood with the Little House on the Prairie books and I really enjoyed the style here. Of course, part of the fun is that now even the "present-day" little girl is dated since this came out in the early '60s so it's as if I am looking at my own mother's childhood being represented in the "contemporary" illustrations here. While not a flawless book by any means, it's a nifty concept and the illustrations are winsome in their own right.

Since there are so few reviews here, I'm linking over to a blog review that's very nice:
http://www.vintagechildrensbooksmykid...

And you can see a picture of the cover art here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003...

[Lobstergirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young girl and her mother page through a photograph album that contains pictures of the mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. The message of the book is that children and their parents are the same going back through the generations. Even though clothing styles and housing designs change, the important things, like familial love and security, stay the same. The mother's teachings were a little bit too Zen koan for my taste ("the sky was blue, grass was green, snow was white and cold, the sun was warm and yellow, just as they all are now") and they are repeated, Zolotow-style, several times.

Garth Williams's illustrations are wonderful as usual, black pen and ink with saturated washes of aqua, pistachio green, yellow, and gray. I had a vintage illustrationgasm when I turned the first page and the little girl and her mother were sitting at a Saarinen table in tulip chairs (the text and illustrations are from 1963). The mother tells her daughter that "I lived in a house like this" and we see a white International Style structure:



The grandmother lived in an enormous Victorian pile, and the great-grandmother in a plain gray clapboard Colonial with its back to a harbor.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely story about a little girl who is asking her mother about photos in an album, photos of other little girls: her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

The illustrations here are just wonderful to view, and educational too.

The story stresses how family love, childhood, and nature are the same from generation to generation, even though styles of clothing, transportation, houses, and dolls change over time.

I think little girls will be fascinated by the story and its pictures. The relatively short story and reassuring repetition makes this a good choice for even very young children, although young school aged children should enjoy it to, and the way each section ends makes this a perfect bedtime story book.

[Bree · Rating 3 out of 5]

Notes:
warm, sweet story
generational history in picture format

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books as a child. Reading it still takes my imagination to a time when my grandmother was kissed goodnight by her parents and could hear them talking downstairs as she fell asleep, and how that must have felt the same for my mother, me, and now my children. Such a lovely book.

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cute book about a photo album that evolves into a walkthrough of a family tree. Reminds me of Trina Schart Hyman's "How Does It Feel To Be Old?" Garth Williams' illustrations are beautifully rendered.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

The drawings are excellent. A little girl learns her family history and sees the connections between herself and her foremothers.

[Ammie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely a story to be read with your daughter. 💕

[Madame Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tender story about the continuity of life.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intergenerational comparison of children's lives shows that despite contrast, there are constants that remain throughout the past and into the future. Well crafted.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been looking for this picture book forever. It was one of my very favorites when I was a child but I could not remember the title. I remembered the illustrations and the "in a house like this" refrain. So glad to have finally found it!

[Carri · Rating 5 out of 5]

9 out 10 stars from Elijah.

[Jenny Taylor Moodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It takes me straight back to childhood- my sister and I owned it.

[Anna H · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Zolotow's work!
Love, love, love this book!!!!!!!!!!!
A book that connects generations...and gives a sense of history.