Each day leading up to the April 13 announcement of the Minnesota Book Awards, we highlight one of the thirty-two finalists. Today we feature 2013 Children’s Literature Finalist:
Tell Me About Your Day Today by Mem Fox, illustrated by Lauren Stringer
Published by: Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Category Sponsor: Books For Africa
Bedtime is here. Time to curl up, snuggle in, and discover “the who, the what, the why, and the way” four best friends had a wonderful day.
The little boy in this gentle and fun story loves to talk to his stuffed animals each evening and share with them all the things that happened to him that day—and to hear about their days, too. Tell Me About Your Day Today is a celebration of imagination, play, friendship, and coziness that will touch a chord with young children everywhere.
Mem Fox is Australia’s best loved picture-book author. Her first book, Possum Magic, has sold over four million copies and is still the best selling children’s book in Australia, 29 years after its publication.
Lauren Stringer has exhibited her work in museums and galleries, and designed sets and costumes for performance art, theater, and dance. In 1991, she received the McKnight Foundation Fellowship for sculpture. In 1994, Stringer painted her first children’s book, Mud, written by Mary Lyn Ray, which won the Minnesota Book Award, the IRA Children’s Choice Award, and the Crayola Kids Best Book of the Year Award. Stringer creates her stories, paintings, and sculptures in a huge old Victorian house in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she lives with her husband, their two children, and three cats.
Reviews:
With Stringer providing all the details in velvety, saturated acrylics, readers learn that Blue Horse and Greedy Goose (the who), ended up enjoying tea and cookies (the what), after a scary thunderstorm (the why) prompted Goose to throw a blanket over the checkerboard rocking horse to create a tent that made them feel snug and safe… As much as this book is about being the center of the universe, it’s also about letting others hold the stage. A good friend, the final contented huddle tells readers, is also a good listener. — Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
The catchall refrain and Lauren Stringer’s luminous illustrations combine to unleash an adorably benign saga of thunderstorm woes. A well-placed wink follows with the boy’s own account: the real challenges were not, of course, those of his pals. As the images show, it was the child himself who recoiled from the loud, electric weather. Stringer is skilled at compositional intimacy, and her softly scumbled blues and simmering oranges and yellows combine to smooth the calamity and highlight the recovery. — New York Times Sunday Book Review
Have you read Tell Me About Your Day Today — for yourself or to a child in your life? What are your thoughts? We welcome your comments!
32 Books in 32 Days 
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