I had six picture books left at home from the library. I am not in the mood for picture books but I wanted to read these books before the end of 2023, and preferably before Christmas. The only way I was able to read the five I read yesterday was to forego writing reviews for them, not even short ones. They were two 5 star books, one 4 star book and two 3 star books, all of them worthy of reviews but I didn’t feel up to writing anything so I just rated the books. Because there are reviews posted for all of them I am fine with not adding my own.

This is the sixth and last book I have at home from the library.

Even though I am not in the mood to write reviews I wanted to review this book because the book A Wrinkle in Time has meant so much to me. I was introduced to it by my fourth grade teacher who read it to my class when it was a brand new standalone book. We loved it so much that the next book he read to us was Meet the Austins, then two years old and also at that time still a standalone book. Both books became favorites of mine and still are among my favorite books.

I have read the book Becoming Madeleine: A Biography of the Author of A Wrinkle in Time by Her Granddaughters, the lead author being the same as for this picture book.

I enjoy reading about writers’ lives and seeing how events in their lives make their way into their books. In [author:Madeleine L'Engle|106]’s case it’s a lot. I recognize so much from her life as I read her books, including her novels for young readers.

I do find it interesting that her strong Christian faith didn’t make it into this book but that’s fine with me personally and hopefully it will make the book (and the author’s books) appeal to widest possible audience. This is a narrative that sugar coats some things about this woman’s life but I’m okay with that too. Thinking about the intended audience there is no need to focus on childhood and adolescent traumas. If readers are interested to learn more about L’Engle there are many other books by her and about her for them to read. This is a lovely little book that I think does well at what it set out to do.

I love the illustrations. They’re beautiful, colorful, expressive and have interesting details, and they fit perfectly with the narrative text.

There is a useful section in the back with a lot of additional information and there is a list of the author’s books (and their series) for young people. I wish the books had been listed with their original publication dates but even without them I’m grateful for the list. I appreciate how readers are directed to The International Dark Sky Association (darksky.org) and given reasons why. I’m off to look at the website.

I’ve noticed that today’s children and adults don’t gravitate to reading [book:A Wrinkle in Time|545873] and I think that’s unfortunate. Yes, it now has to be read as historical fiction in addition to speculative fiction but it’s a timeless story. I still recommend it to readers of all ages.

This picture book was fun for me to read. I can see it inspiring some children to write or pursue other creative endeavors.

4-1/2 stars ( )

First sentence: Once when Madeleine was very small, her parents woke her and took her outside to see the splendor of the starry night sky. It was both dazzlingly dark and full of light, and it seemed to go on forever. She could hear the stars singing, telling her that she was part of something beautiful, generous, and loving. The sining of the stars filled Madeleine with wonder and excitement, and she realized there was more to her world than daytime and ordinary things. She had big questions.

Premise/plot: A picture book biography of Madeleine L'Engle, author of Wrinkle in Time. Like many picture book biographies this one is limited in scope.

My thoughts: What you see is what you get--no more, no less. It is a picture book biography of children's book author, Madeleine L'Engle. Is it a picture book for younger readers or older readers? I'm not absolutely sure which--or even if it's both. Younger readers probably aren't familiar with A Wrinkle in Time. ( )