Nothing Ever Happens on a Gray Day
by Grant Snider; illus. by the author
Primary    Chronicle    40 pp.
9/23    9781797210896    $17.99

Snider tells the story of a common experience: a tediously gray day with nothing to do. Loose-lined drawings in colored pencil and marker depict a mostly colorless world interrupted by bright bursts of yellow, pink, and blue, as the protagonist explores familiar places by bike in search of something new. After passing by several humdrum locations, the young narrator ventures out on a path through the woods and sees leaves, streams, and trees from a new perspective. The gray world opens up with possibilities and color, and the narrator finds a way to appreciate even the seemingly dullest of days. Snider’s sensory-rich verbs and other word choices support his illustrations: raindrops “speckle” the sidewalk; the bike is “rickety”; trees are “gnarled.” The creative, engaging vocabulary paired with the high-contrast art helps young readers learn new words and their meanings in context. Snider paints a relatable picture and leaves readers with a message: when everything seems gray, it’s up to you to search for color.

From the November/December 2023 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.