Seven Skies All at Once

Ted Kooser's 'Seven Skies All at Once' is a captivating picture book that uses vivid, personified metaphors to describe the lead-up to a rainstorm. The sky is imagined as doing laundry, with different types of clouds being 'washed' and 'hung out to dry' before a colossal cumulonimbus brings the rain. Accompanied by Matt Myers' dynamic and radiant illustrations, this book offers a playful yet evocative exploration of meteorological drama. It's perfect for children aged 4-11, inviting them to pause, observe, and appreciate the natural world with a fresh, imaginative perspective. Parents will find it an excellent tool for building vocabulary and sparking conversations about poetry and nature.

"Kooser’s picturesque poetry vividly shapes his living sky metaphors. . . A lofty concept and radiant illustrations will leave readers on cloud nine." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) The skies are hanging their freshly washed—and sweepingly illustrated—clouds out to dry in Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Ted Kooser’s celestial ode to an approaching rainstorm. One sky unpins damp sheets of cirrus. Another wads cirrocumulus into a basket woven of sunbeams. Still others carry away armloads of altocumulus and drag moth-eaten gray blankets of stratus past. At last, a colossal cumulonimbus sweeps in, squeezing out the light to herald . . . rain! What emerges is a sky like a great green laundry basket with a rainbow for a handle. Full of wit and brilliant linguistic surprises, this poetic romp by former United States Poet Laureate Ted Kooser is as playfully theatrical as it is evocative. Matt Myers’s dynamic artwork stages the weather with aplomb, capturing the distinct mood of each show-stopping sky and crafting a meteorological drama of epic proportions. Like a good, rousing rainstorm, Seven Skies All at Once calls eloquently on our senses, inviting us to pause and reflect on the ever-changing wonders all around.