In every life

Material Type	Library	Call Number	Item Barcode	Location
Book	Searching... Amesbury Public Library	E FRAZEE	32114002823475	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Andover - Memorial Hall Library Children's Room	JE FRA	31330009299045	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Billerica Public Library	E/FRA	33934004608866	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Boxford Town Library	EJ FRA	32115001874013	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Burlington Public Library	E FRAZEE	32116004047458	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Carlisle - Gleason Public Library	JJ FRAZEE	32117002214215	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Chelmsford Public Library	JJ/FRAZEE	31480011639579	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Dracut - Moses Greeley Parker Memorial Library	E/FRAZEE	31482003079632	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Dunstable Free Public Library	JJ FRA	32118001093865	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Essex - T.O.H.P. Burnham Free Library	E FRA	32119000452870	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Georgetown Peabody Library	JJ FRAZEE	32120001427226	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Groton Public Library	JJ FRA	37003701990120	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Groveland - Langley-Adams Library	JE FRA	32121000946455	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Hamilton-Wenham Public Library	JJ FRA	30470002165693	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Haverhill Public Library	J/PIC/FRAZEE	31479007617185	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Ipswich Public Library	JE FRAZEE	32122002995300	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Littleton - Reuben Hoar Library	J A FRAZEE	39965002749066	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Manchester-by-the-Sea Public Library	JJ FRA	32124002119428	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Methuen - Nevins Memorial Library	J-ER FRA	31548003473627	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Middleton - Flint Public Library	JJ FRA	32126001892152	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Newbury Town Library	JJ FRA	32127001347866	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Newburyport Public Library	J FR / PICTURE	32128004157849	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... North Andover - Stevens Memorial Library	JP RAISE EMPATHY FRA	31478003800357	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... North Reading - Flint Memorial Library	JJ FRA	31550002600465	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Rockport Public Library	J PS FRAZEE	32129002547619	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Rowley Public Library	E FRA	32130001061321	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Tewksbury Public Library	JJ FRA	32132003373084	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Topsfield Town Library	JJ FRAZEE	32133002675495	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... West Newbury - G.A.R. Memorial Library	JJ FRA	32135001587910	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Westford - J.V. Fletcher Library	E FRAZEE	31990005242776	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Wilmington Memorial Library	PICTURE BOOK FRAZEE	32136003584038	Searching... Unknown

This Caldecott Honor picture book is a simple and profound meditation on the many wonders of life from three-time Caldecott Honor recipient Marla Frazee.

In every life, there is love and loss, hope and joy, wonder and mystery. With glowing art and spare, powerful text, Caldecott Honor-winning creator Marla Frazee celebrates the moments, feelings, and experiences, both big and small, that make up a life.

Reviews (4)

School Library Journal Review

PreS-Gr 1--This book is a meditation on gratitude, full of intricate symbolism. Frazee explains in a note that she was inspired by a "call-and-response version of a Jewish baby-naming blessing" she heard at a Christian church decades ago. The text is made up of seven lines, all but the last composed of seven words each. Seven is a significant number in Judaism, and structuring the text in this way is a subtle acknowledgement of that faith tradition. Each of the seven lines is presented on a spread with a series of small illustrations, vignettes that represent each idea. Following each is a wordless spread featuring a sprawling landscape peopled by small figures. Each line has a thematic color, and the palettes of the wordless spreads combine the colors to link the concepts. The pages of the first line, "In every birth, blessed is the wonder," are suffused with a soft pink. The following spread shows a family gazing at the sky, a baby pointing to the fluffy pink clouds that slowly bleed into yellow, the color of the second line: "In every smile, blessed is the light." The overall mood is slow, steady, and soothing. The combination of the spiritual words and the prosaic moments alternating with grand panoramas bestows a magnitude to the minutiae of the everyday. The characters are diverse in every sense of the word, representing a myriad of families and lived experiences. While the book's brevity is appropriate for a read-aloud, children will want to examine the illustrations closely. VERDICT Simultaneously simple and majestic, this benediction of a book is recommended for first purchase.--Elizabeth Lovsin

Publisher's Weekly Review

This brief, stirring benediction--based on a "call-and-response version of a Jewish baby-naming blessing," Frazee (The Great Zapfino) notes on the book's dedication page--starts with new life. "In every birth,/ blessed is the wonder" reads hand-lettered text, shown above delicately drawn vignettes of variously aged caregivers cuddling, nursing, and admiring infants and toddlers. "In every smile,/ blessed is the light" captures moments of pleasure as people read, talk, snuggle, and tussle. Across the pages' silvery vignettes, intersectionally inclusive groups and individuals experience anticipation ("In every hope/ blessed is the doing") and loss ("In every sadness,/ blessed is the comfort"), and embrace each other in vulnerability ("In every love,/ blessed are the tears"). Throughout, the blessings and attendant spot art alternate with wide, wordless landscapes: a changing sky covered in puffy pink clouds, a winding path through sparsely wooded hills, a lighted window on a rainy night. A rich trove of moving images lets Frazee range over an expansive constellation of human experiences, offering fodder to explore and discuss. Ages up to 8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Feb.)

Horn Book Review

In her latest picture book, Frazee says she "hoped to capture and honor what we all have in common, no matter who we are or where we live." Each line of text begins with "In every..." and appears on its own spread with Frazee's signature pencil and gouache vignettes of people, young and old, epitomizing the sentiment expressed (a la her layouts for the similarly inspirational Everywhere Babies, rev. 5/01, and All the World, rev. 9/09). While the text is earnest, Frazee finds ways to insert light humor into her illustrations, such as a child using the potty for "In every hope, blessed is the doing." Wordless full-bleed spreads are interspersed between the vignette pages, showing wide landscape views with people finding peace and joy in nature; these offer viewers a chance to pause and reflect on that line's meaning. She also chooses a predominant color for each line's font and its accompanying art to aid young listeners in linking them together (e.g., yellow is the color associated with the line "In every smile, blessed is the light"). The affectionate domestic scenes feature a diverse mix of people and are a visual testament to Frazee's inclusive goal of showcasing the commonalities "in every life." According to her author's note, she's revised a baby-naming blessing that she attributes to the Jewish faith (the original source of which is unknown, "but it has been adapted and used widely in welcoming ceremonies of all kinds") by simplifying the poem and adding her own lines, including passages about smiles and sadness. Cynthia K. RitterJanuary/February 2023 p.60 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

"And in every life, / blessed is the love." Frazee's author's note explains that she was inspired to write this text when she "heard a call-and-response version of a Jewish baby-naming blessing and immediately felt its potential as a picture book." After several false starts, she began working on it in 2020, "when so many things about our world were upended," and the following year, her first grandchild was born. In its inclusive, warmhearted celebration of community, family, and life itself, the resulting book feels like a melding of earlier titles Frazee illustrated: Everywhere Babies (2001) by Susan Meyers and All the World (2009) by Liz Garton Scanlon. While the realistic art style is akin to that of those books, the text is sparer, with pacing grounded in the call-and-response inspiration: "In every birth," reads the opening verso, with the resolution on the facing page reading, "blessed is the wonder." Accompanying vignettes of babies cared for by young and old people alike invite readers to speculate about relationships and to delight in the loving, diverse depictions. Then the page turn reveals a full-bleed vista of a couple with a baby looking at the sunrise, pink clouds filling the sky. Once established, this pattern--of a call-and-response spread illustrated with vignettes followed by a wordless full-bleed spread of a single family in nature--carries through the entire book, providing opportunities for observation, conversation, and reflection. (This book was reviewed digitally.) This lyrical blessing of a picture book belongs on every shelf. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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