Spier has a penchant for taking the ordinary and pursuing it in such a way as to make the event intimately meaningful. Here he explores the art of cloud watching. From the nebulous cloud forms on one spread spring forth the diaphonous shapes of animals, ships, trains, and knights in shining armour on the next. A boy, a girl, and two dogs frolic in the lush greenness of the countryside as this magnificent procession emanates and vaporizes in the boundless blue. Wordless until the closing (". . .and the next time you gaze at the sky: dream dreams!"), the book offers the same message through the visuals. In addition to its strong imaginative quality as seen in the use of flying birds for animal eyes, sunlight for dragon fire, and jet streams for the lances of the knights, humor is also an integral part, as when the children imagine two monsters chasing them home on the final endpapers. Children and adults alike will revel in the warmth of an unstructured day filled with an artist's wonder of nature and imagination, yet be nudged ever so slightly by the author to his own sense of discovery and dreaming that allows no room for boredom or disinterest.
曾经有这么一个可爱的故事：有一个孩子手里紧握着钱，要去买一根汤匙。他走进一间店铺，看着陈列在架上的大小汤匙，都不满意。小孩于是对老板说：“我想要一根长一点的汤匙。”老板拿出一根有半张饭桌那么长的汤匙，孩子摇摇头。老板再拿出一根几乎和门一样高的汤匙，孩子还是摇摇头。老板只好请其他的人来帮忙，最后搬出一根像旗杆那么长的汤匙，孩子还是一样摇摇头。老板忍不住问他：“你要那么长的汤匙到底要做什么呢？”孩子眨眨眼睛，抬起头指着天上的白云大声说：“我要舀一瓢白云下来吃一口看看。”你可曾凝望过夏天的天空？云层配合着偶尔吹来的风，可以有千种变化。《夏天的天空》中，一对姐弟和两条狗在一望无际的草地上尽情的嬉戏玩耍。面对着无边无际的蓝天，变幻莫测的白云引发了孩子们无边的想象力，从模糊的云的形状中看出各种各样的动物、船只、火车以及武士等。整本书没有任何文字描述，只是用栩栩如生的图画描绘着孩子的梦想。从而让孩子被作者奇妙的想象力吸引，深深地沉醉在这温暖而广阔的大自然中，勾起人们对美好梦想的深深渴望，从而忘却了所有的烦恼和冷漠。如果你有时间，不妨躺下来，和孩子一起听云说故事吧。
By Peter Spier, Simplified Chinese Characters, Hardcover, 28 pages, 8.75"x11.25"
