Books For Keeps
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Articles
  • Past Issues
  • Latest Issue
  • Authors and Artists
  • Latest News
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
July 1, 2020/in Picture Book 5-8 Infant/Junior /by bookskeeps
BfK Rating:
BfK 243 July 2020
Reviewer: Jill Bennett
ISBN: 978-1912650484
Price: £12.99
Publisher: Scallywag Press
Genre: Picture Book
Age Range: 5-8 Infant/Junior
Length: 40pp
Buy the Book

A New Green Day

Author: Antoinette Portis

If ever there was an invitation to look anew at the natural world, then Antoinette Portis’ sequence of lyrical riddles offers just that.

We follow a little girl from sunrise to nightfall as she responds to morning’s invitation to “Come out and play!”

Once she’s up and outdoors a series of voices belonging to a snail, a leaf, an inchworm, a tadpole a pebble, a cloud, rain, lightning, thunder, mud, shadow and finally night, pose a clever riddle on each recto, the answer being revealed at the turn of the page. “I’m a map of my own / green home. / Follow my roads / and climb” – A mountain path perhaps? Turning to the verso we discover those words were spoken by leaf, a leaf whose shape and veins are almost mirrored by one of the trees standing behind.

Both Portis’ illustrations and verses are beautifully textured: “I’m a sweet sucked smooth / in the river’s mouth. / Let me roll in your pocket,” is a speckled pebbled held on the girl’s outstretched palm above a grainy shore.

Every riddle asks readers and listeners to embrace the great outdoors, to re-experience the familiar with all their senses alert and with a willingness to allow each encounter with nature to reveal unexpected riches.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/a-new-green-day.jpg 500 495 bookskeeps http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png bookskeeps2020-07-01 14:31:002021-02-25 14:33:19A New Green Day

Search for a specific review

Author Search

Search







Generic filters




Filter by Member Types


Book Author

Download BfK Issue Bfk 272 May 2025
Skip to an Issue:

About Us

Launched in 1980, we’ve reviewed hundreds of new children’s books each year and published articles on every aspect of writing for children.

Read More

Follow Us

Latest News

Margaret McDonald and her editors Alice Swan and Ama Badu win the 2025 Branford Boase Award

July 9, 2025

‘The magic of poetry by heart’ Champions of the 2025 National Poetry Speaking Competition Announced

July 8, 2025
IBC

New National Year of Reading launching January 2026

July 8, 2025

Contact Us

Books for Keeps,
30 Winton Avenue,
London,
N11 2AT

Telephone: 0780 789 3369

ISSN: 0143-909X (this is our International Standard Serial Number).

© Copyright 2025 - Books For Keeps | Proudly Built by Lemongrass Media - Web Design Buckinghamshire
What Stars Are Made Of midnights twins Midnight’s Twins
Scroll to top