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Schmidt, Gary D. , Stickney, Elizabeth

A Long Road on a Short Day

64 pp. | Clarion | November, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-0-544-88836-4 $17.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-0-358-37857-0 $9.99
(2) K-3 Illustrated by Eugene Yelchin. When Samuel's mother expresses an ardent wish for "a brown-eyed cow to give us milk for the baby," Samuel and his father pack a couple of apples and their best Barlow knife to trade and set out down the road as the cold January clouds gather. At each stop, the boy, who loves animals and longs for a pet, wishes, "just a little bit, it wasn't a brown-eyed cow his mother was wanting." As they swap the Barlow knife first for two tin lanterns and then, successively, briefly come into the possession of a book of poetry, a blue-and-white pitcher, a lamb, and a pony and cart, the daylight begins to wane and the snow begins to fall in earnest. Along the way, readers are privy to the warm interactions between father and son as well as their easy rapport with their neighbors. The narrative is spare and engaging with a folktale-like tone and storyteller's flair for repeated phrasing. Yelchin's lively full-color paintings are full of motion and realistic natural detail. The period and the setting are not specified; rather, this is a bit of timeless rural Americana. The circular journey is a successful one, and Samuel proves his mettle as a companion and helper--and has earned his heart's desire.
Reviewer: Luann Toth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

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