A cHIlD’S cuRIOSITy about nature
comes to life in the art and craft of
nikki Mcclure’s new book, Mama, Is
It Summer Yet? (Abrams, 2010).
In this age of computer-generated
imagery, Mcclure’s intricate cut-paper
illustrations stand out as authentic,
unique works creating the perfect
context for conversations with your
kids about nature’s simple beauty.
slow-motion descent, collapsed at last
against the ocean floor.
The challenge with such a wide-
ranging book, of course, is coherence:
how to make it something other than a
cobbled-together conglomeration of one
woman’s adventures. What, after all,
do pulverized guano, the Ekman spiral,
deep-sea vents, storm petrel burrows, and
ancient ocean rivers have to do with one
another? The answer, according to Whitty,
is everything. And it’s those myriad con-
nections among seemingly disparate life
forms, ideas, hopes, and history that this
book explores in lively, lyrical style.
