Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Summer's smells, sounds, rhythms, and rituals unspool luxuriantly in this tribute to the season when "days stretch out like a slow yawn," when "bumblebees bumble," and "every day is like a Saturday."An elementary school-age boy with light-brown skin and a shock of dark hair giddily greets summer's markers: the final day of class, a lemonade stand, neighborhood hide-and-seek, July 4th parade and fireworks, camping and cooling off at a lake. He relishes summer's free-wheeling ease alongside a swirling pack of friends, a group of children with delightfully ambiguous skin tones—tan, taupe, medium brown, dark brown—but all scarlet-cheeked from sunny afternoons. In gleeful acrylic illustrations, their eyes crinkle and pop with joy, their arms fly skyward, their legs extend midstride. These exuberant motions and feelings, uncomplicated but deeply understood by children, appear atop soft summer scenes in gauzy greens and cotton whites. Looking at these fantastic freeze-frames of fun, young readers see their desire to halt time during summer months fulfilled. Hearing lush phrases that capture summer's ethos ("daylight pushes back bedtimes, and crickets crick-crick in the evening air"), they can almost smell freshly mown lawns and taste campfire s'mores. A perennial read that radiates summer's heady glee. (Picture book. 2-6)

ALA Booklist

When school is out and the sprinklers are on, when every day is luxurious like a weekend and the family hops in the car for a road trip to the lake house, when lemonade stands and ice-cream trucks pop up on every street and sleeping bags are unfurled in tents, then you know it must be summertime. Using the same gorgeous language and when/then repetitive structure he used in And Then Comes Halloween (2009) and And Then Comes Christmas (2014), Brenner has created a languid, poetic, joyful tribute to the hotter and stickier months. The language is stunning in its descriptiveness hen daylight pushes back bedtimes, / and crickets crick-crick in the evening air, / and bugs as big as thumbs bang against windows" d Kim's artwork is steeped in sunshine. The overall effect is a celebration of playing outdoors in front yards with bare feet on those special, cherished days that "stretch out like a slow yawn."

Horn Book

An engagingly poetic, somewhat nostalgic text and cheerful, cartoonish drawings help capture the joys of summer (seemingly in the suburbs)--from the end of school to the jingle of the ice-cream truck to camping outdoors. The "when...then" structure of the story is not always steady.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Summer's smells, sounds, rhythms, and rituals unspool luxuriantly in this tribute to the season when "days stretch out like a slow yawn," when "bumblebees bumble," and "every day is like a Saturday."An elementary school-age boy with light-brown skin and a shock of dark hair giddily greets summer's markers: the final day of class, a lemonade stand, neighborhood hide-and-seek, July 4th parade and fireworks, camping and cooling off at a lake. He relishes summer's free-wheeling ease alongside a swirling pack of friends, a group of children with delightfully ambiguous skin tones—tan, taupe, medium brown, dark brown—but all scarlet-cheeked from sunny afternoons. In gleeful acrylic illustrations, their eyes crinkle and pop with joy, their arms fly skyward, their legs extend midstride. These exuberant motions and feelings, uncomplicated but deeply understood by children, appear atop soft summer scenes in gauzy greens and cotton whites. Looking at these fantastic freeze-frames of fun, young readers see their desire to halt time during summer months fulfilled. Hearing lush phrases that capture summer's ethos ("daylight pushes back bedtimes, and crickets crick-crick in the evening air"), they can almost smell freshly mown lawns and taste campfire s'mores. A perennial read that radiates summer's heady glee. (Picture book. 2-6)

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2With this sunny celebration of the season, readers will find themselves eagerly anticipating June. Brenner and Kim have created a nostalgia-inducing suburban setting whose cheerful residents are treated to an endless stream of fireworks, games of hide-and-seek, Fourth of July parades, and trips to the lake. As in his previous titles (And Then Comes Halloween; And Then Comes Christmas), Brenner relies on a "Then&30;when" structure ("When the days stretch out like a slow yawn,/and leaves and grasses sparkle with dew/&30;. Then throw on flip-flops and breathe the sweet air") for another ode to a beloved time of the year. Featuring evocative, concrete images"bugs as big as thumbs bang against windows"the lyrical verse captures all the exuberance and simplicity of a childhood summer. Kim's illustrations, rendered in acrylic paint with digital tools, depict a rosy-cheeked, diverse array of children as they gleefully sell lemonade, cycle down the street, and indulge in ice cream. Buoyant and infused with energy, these picturesque images call to mind an idyllic time and place without electronics or screens and where kids are free to roam with minimal supervision. VERDICT An enchanting purchase for most library collections, especially those seeking additional seasonal materials.—Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal