This book is comprised of "weather sayings," some of which we have probably all heard before and others that I had never heard of. If you follow the illustrations they tell a story of a grandfather taking his grandchildren fishing. The illustrations were the best part of the book for me. They were done paper artist, Elly McKay. They were beautiful scenes and look three dimensional. The colours are soft and the illustrations are large. You can look at each page for quite awhile to see everything that is happening. When you get to the end of the book, there is information about each saying such as where it came from, who wrote it etc. Most of them are partially true and have their roots in science. This would be a great book to use in a school in various ways. It can be used in a weather unit, as an inspiration for an art lesson using paper layers and even for an english unit to write sayings, research etc. A great book for any school library. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.
( )

This is a simple book with a deep story .Two children on an adventure with Grandpa. But it's also about weather and how kids can understand and predict that weather. With few words and lovely pictures for young children and great ideas for older ones in the back; this book is for the whole family. ( )

Red sky at night, sailor's delight. And, the next morning, when the dew is on the grass, no rain will come to pass. These are the perfect conditions for a grandfather to take his grandchildren out on a fishing trip. Especially since, as the saying goes, when the wind is from the West, then the fishes bite the best. The family takes a boat out on the lake, fishing and swimming and eventually camping out on a nearby island, taking full advantage of the gorgeous weather. But the next day . . . red sky in the morning, sailors take warning! The family ventures back home just in time to avoid a rainstorm. But not to worry -- the more rain, the more rest. Fair weather's not always best.

Acclaimed paper artist Elly MacKay illustrates a lovely family narrative through the use of weather aphorisms, creating a beautiful and informational story which will appeal to children's timeless fascination with the natural world. (amazon)

This is a book with many layers, both in the illustrations which have a three-dimensional effect built of layered cut paper, and in the weather sayings themselves. The weather wisdom is arranged to form a commentary on the visual story of a grandfather and his grandchildren looking to the sky at night and considering the weather signs, waking up in the misty dawn and leaving for a day of fishing, returning to their cozy home when the weather turns fickle. I have to say that I found the fishing theme of the story slightly uncomfortable, but since a story line was needed and a large proportion of weather lore references fish, it is certainly understandable, probably even unavoidable. In the end, they don't catch anything, but seem to have a wonderful time anyway.

I said the weather wisdom has layers: after the story is done, there is a section at the back of the book where, to my delight, the author presents each saying with an evaluation of its truth. Usually she seems to know what she is talking about, but she apparently has never lived next to hundreds of frogs who go into ecstasies of trilling and croaking and hollering when rain draws in. Possibly due to humid air carrying sound better, haha, no.

Reading this book reminded me of the weather sayings my mother taught me, some of which found their way into this book and some which did not. "Mackerel sky, mackerel sky: Not long wet, not long dry." I'm rather longing to add another layer to the story by inscribing my own weather rhymes in the book -- if only it had a place for that. Perhaps I'll use the rear endpapers. ( )

My children just did not get into this book (ages 4 and 6) which makes me wonder what age this picture book is geared toward.

The pictures are lovely and personally I think the subject matter is unusual and interesting, but if I hadn't received this book for free I would never have purchased it.

Also, it's way too long. ( )