Heatwave
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected May 21, 2024
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- $10.99
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- Pre-Order
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
A picture book from an award-winning artist that uses vibrant reds and blues to stunningly evoke the intensity of a heatwave and the refreshing relief that comes with an unexpected downpour of a cooling rain.
Sweltering. Sweating. It’s 100 degrees… even in the shade.
Games are canceled, temperatures reach record highs. The sun is hot.
Finally, a wind picks up. One rain drop. Then another. A downpour. The sun sets and the moon rises, Relief at last.
Heatwave is a book that vividly evokes a universal feeling--when the air is so hot and heavy you can barely move, when the sun is so bright your eyes play tricks on you. Renowned artist, writer and MacArthur genuis grant recipient, Lauren Redniss’s choice to use just two vibrant and contrasting colors in her artwork and spare text makes for a bold and interesting exploration of extreme weather. Even the book itself is saturated in red as if the book itself is burning up.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Readers can tell that the heat is on from the get-go in this climate-oriented picture book—its pages are deep red, against which the landscape and figures are rendered in spidery lines and grayscale tones. At the beach, folks droop hoping for a shred of respite. A child and a dog sit and swelter instead of chasing a ball, a newspaper front page reads "RECORD HEAT ACROSS GLOBE," and minimal, staccato text ("100 degrees,// in the shade.// Try not to burn") appears as enervated as the figures look. Then the rain arrives—at first, drop by blue drop, and then in striations and torrents that vanquish the red hues in favor of a cool, aqueous blue. As the people seek shelter, rain and moonrise give way to the blue-hued night's temperatures and an individual's preparations to sleep in the breeze of a fan. Redniss (Heatwave) eschews hard climate-change-related information in this spare work that aptly depicts the sensory experience of living amid one hot, hot planet's various cycles. Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8.