Solstice: Around the World on the Longest, Shortest Day by Jen Breach

Solstice: Around the World on the Longest, Shortest Day by Jen Breach, illustrated by 14 Global Artists. What On Earth, 2024. 9781913750787

Rating 1-5 (5 is an excellent or Starred review): 4

Format: Hardcover

What did you like about the book? This is a beautiful hybrid fiction/non-fiction book exploring how 14 imaginary children in 14 different countries spend the solstice day in June. The book opens with a Japanese child spending the winter with their parents at the South Pole and ending with a Norwegian child whose family has lived in Longyearben, Svalbard, at least since their grandparents were miners there. Each 4-page vignette begins with an inset that shows the location on a small world map, hours of sunlight, average temperature range in both F and C, and a few words in the child’s language (most include a greeting, the word for sun, winter, and/or summer, and words for relevant family members). Some of the children celebrate the solstice specifically; others just have a regular day. Narration is in the first person and usually includes mention of food, family adults’ professions, and comments on the solstice along with other day-in-the-life information. I like the idea of learning about different cultures through the lens of what is happening on the June solstice; it helps open readers’ eyes to the vast differences of how the world is experienced around the globe. Countries represented include Japan, Antarctica, Argentina, Australia, South Africa, Ecuador, Indonesia, Nigeria, Nepal, Morocco, China, Turkey, USA, UK, and Norway. Gorgeous (mostly digital) illustrations are created by 14 different global artists with a connection to the location or culture they are depicting. Back matter includes small artist bios, glossary, index, and source notes. Also includes an introduction by the author.

Anything you didn’t like about it? I’m not sure about the representations of all the different cultures in the book. For example, the source notes list several books about China written by people who have Western-sounding names (John Perritano, Lynn Peppas, and Nancy Pellegrini). It does not necessarily appear that the author used native people as sources for anything other than translations and pronunciations (as acknowledged on the copyright page), including the illustrators. For example, Daniel Gray-Barnett illustrated the spreads for Hobart, Tasmania, and he mentions in his artist blurb that his “valley celebrates the dark winter with a midwinter festival. Bonfires, feasting, and singing to the apple trees!” It seems like this would have been a lovely detail to include.

To whom would you recommend this book? Children in approximately grades 3-5 who enjoy browsable non-fiction such as Everything & Everywhere: A Fact-Filled Adventure for Curious Globe-Trotters, or The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth: Understanding our World and Its Ecosystems. Great for solstice displays.

Who should buy this book? Libraries serving grades 3-5 where browsable non-fiction is popular.

Where to shelve it? Technically, this is a juvenile fiction collection of (very) short stories, but at approximately 12” square, it won’t look like most other works like that. I would consider shelving it in 394.2 (General Customs/Special Occasions).

Should we (librarians/readers) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? No

Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City and State: Michelle Fontaine, Epstein Hillel School Library, Marblehead, MA

Date of review: June 9, 2024