ALA Booklist (Wed Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 1993)

Using wonderful collages, Fleming offers a frog's view of the changing seasons at a small, small pond. It's spring, and the frog jumps into the pool, where tadpoles wiggle and jiggle and baby ducks waddle and wade. As summer arrives, days grow lazier: drowse, doze, eyes close. In the autumn, pile, pack, muskrats stack, and when the snow finally starts falling, it's a cold night / sleep tight. In the small, small pond. Adults will certainly be more aware than children of Fleming's subtle use of color to indicate the changing seasons, but listeners will get a kick out of the simple, yet bouncy rhymes, the brevity of which makes this book suitable for even the youngest. To make her pictures, Fleming poured colored cotton pulp through hand-cut stencils onto handmade paper. The art has both a fluidity of design and a precision of definition that make it a pleasure to view--something individuals and groups will enjoy doing. (Reviewed Sept. 1, 1993)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In a starred review, PW praised the """"stunning"""" spreads and """"zippy"""" language of this peek at the life of a freshwater pond through the seasons; a Caldecott Honor book. Ages 2-6. (Oct.)

Kirkus Reviews

<p>In the same format and gorgeous illustrative style, a companion to In the Tall, Tall Grass (1991, Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor), with the succinct rhyming text (waddle, wade, geese parade''), in bold black, beautifully integrated into art created in the process of making paper from pulp dyed in brilliant colors. This time, the child observer is Oriental; and where the first book moved from noon to night, the implicitly suggested cycle here is from tadpole and gosling toChill breeze, winter freeze.'' Another perfect introduction to nature for the very young. (Picture book. 1-6)</p>

Horn Book (Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 1993)

Employing the same method of illustration that she used in her award-winning 'In the Tall, Tall Grass' (Holt), Fleming creates eye-catching compositions with bold, vibrant forms. The rhymed text consists of three or four words, primarily verbs, printed large on each page and arranged so that they seem to move along with the images. A perfect prelude to a field trip to the local pond.