Once Upon Another Time

Luminous, peaceful illustrations depicting an era before builidings, cars, and modern technology contrast sharply with those depciting our busy, cramped, and almost too-loud present day. The rhyming text perfectly complements the art, encouraging readers to disconnect from the everyday devices that consume our days and explore this other time by stepping out into the nature that is all around us. A necessary addition to picutre-book collections.

K-Gr 2--The authors use playful rhyme and sweeping landscapes to remind readers about a time "before one human step" was taken. Each outdoor scene depicts the best of each season. Landazábal's artwork teems with abundant wildlife, pristine bodies of water, and clear skies. These "another time" pictures are contrasted with views of a modern city and the airport and towers that surround it. Skyscrapers and busy roads replace any kind of greenery in the city center. Halfway through the book, an illustration with dinosaur fossils shows the two time periods coexisting, and then segues into ways children can experience the richness of these earlier times. The suggestions (e.g., to breathe in the same air the dinosaurs breathed, to play in puddles, to put down screens and look up at the clouds) are active, mindful, and free activities that focus on difference senses. They include activities that can be done alone or with family and friends. VERDICT For Earth Day shelves, but all year around. It's a near-perfect way to remind children of all their planet has to offer.--Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake P.L., Alta.

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

In upbeat rhyming couplets, Esenwine and Ghigna paint a portrait of the world pre-Anthropocene, offering descriptions of natural landscapes ("The land was fresh, the air was clean, / the valleys lush with shades of green") before comparing the contemporary world ("There were no drones or airplanes/ flying past a smoggy sun./ There were no phones or internet--/ the webs were spider-spun"). The book then transitions to the present, offering meditative sensory details and urging readers to center themselves in the natural world: "Leave behind the phones and screens, / and take a step outdoors./ Breathe in air that once was shared/ by monstrous dinosaurs!" Landazábal adds landscapes in a dreamy, sponge-textured style that combines modern and retro influences. Though the authors' argument feels a bit oversimplified, this is an evocative encouragement to experience the glory of nature. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)

Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Ghigna and Esenwine provide a vehicle to ferry young readers back to a time when the wonders of nature called to them more powerfully than any computer screen ever could. Once Upon Another Time's glorious poetry and paintings are a perfect pairing. —Nikki Grimes, author of One Last Word and Garvey's Choice

A beautiful, lyrical tribute to the wonder and hush of the natural world, matched by lush, painterly illustrations of wide-open spaces. Once Upon Another Time is sure to inspire children to leave their screens behind and 'take a step outside, ' breathe the same air that was 'once shared by dinosaurs, ' and imagine where the wind has been. —Diana Murray, author of City Shapes and Summer Color!

In Once Upon Another Time, the reader is transported to a world where we can breathe the air that once was shared by monstrous dinosaurs! With lyrical language and fresh images, Ghigna and Esenwine invite the reader to imagine — and then go out and experience — that natural world full of 'canyon walls, ' 'sunny fields, ' and 'passing clouds' —timeless wonders of our planet. —Dr. Sylvia Vardell, professor, Texas Woman's University and poetry anthologist, A World Full of Poems

Words and pictures work beautifully together to encourage young readers to look up and behold something bigger than all of us. Ghigna and Esenwine have created a rhyming book that is smooth and enjoyable to read out loud. Landazabal fills the cheerful, retro-feel illustrations with lots of details, as well as interesting tones and textures, that encourage the viewer to linger rather than turn the page. —Brian Lies, author and illustrator of Bats on the Beach and The Rough Patch

Part lullaby, part serenade, the text croons a sensorial tribute to the simple wonders of our natural world, nudging readers to notice, explore, and savor the 'young and new in every day.' —Lee Wardlaw, author of Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku

Once Upon Another Time is timely and playfully crafted—a beautiful book that I can't wait to read to the grandkids. —Eileen Spinelli, author of Love You Always and Thankful

Vivid colors and gorgeous landscapes interweave with poetic prose as we all yearn for the wild, fresh freedom of another time. —Fred Koehler, illustrator of Flashlight Night, What If, Then We and Garbage Island