HURRY UP! A Book About Slowing Down written by Kate Dopirak and illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal is a fascinating picture book about a young boy and a schedule that always keeps him and his dog on the run.
It begins with the alarm clock as he jumps out of bed, followed by no time for breakfast as he runs downstairs with his book bag flying and out the door to the waiting school bus. The double spread of his day at school shows he and his classmates running back and forth from class to class. When he gets home from school, he is exhausted and has little energy left---- but, he must take his faithful dog out for a walk before he can get back to his homework.
Then something marvelous happens. We see the little boy standing in front of a red background that features the word “STOP” in giant letters. This double spread is very effective. It is followed by the author’s urging to the little boy to “Slow things down. Take a break. Look around, for goodness sake.” And he does just that.
The next illustrations rendered in comforting shades of green and blue find the boy quietly enjoying the wonders of a small snail cupped in his hand. Now he has time to enjoy the beauty of the day as well as the little things such as smelling flowers, blowing bubbles and playing with his dog.
HURRY UP! A Book About Slowing Down written by Kate Dopirak and illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal speaks to readers 4-7 years of age about the importance of making time for looking, hearing and enjoying the moment in order to give a balance to all that running around (Beach Lane Books/ Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2020).
Activity questions for HURRY UP!
Have you ever felt very rushed or like you didn’t have time to catch your breath? When was the last time you quietly enjoyed listening to music, walking through a forest, smelling the flowers in your own backyard, looking for bugs in the garden, reading a book, building a structure with blocks or Legos. Think about it first in order to recapture that feeling and then draw a picture of you enjoying your quiet time. Please give your drawing a title.
Look back through the illustrations in this book. The artist includes one illustration that has only the word STOP in it. Why is this an important picture and an important word?
Play a hide and seek game and find the following items somewhere in this book: a green bookbag, an American flag, a yellow butterfly, a bunch of mushrooms, a teddy bear, a blue bird, a red car, a yellow slide, a soccer ball and a friendly squirrel.
