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Reviewed by Marie-Hélène Fasquel for Readers' Favorite
Some picture books tell big stories. Others begin with a very small question. How Many Days? by Codie Carlson, beautifully illustrated by Morgan Huff, falls into the second category, and I found its simplicity especially touching. A little girl asks how many days her father will be away for work. Then she waits: school, bedtime, drawings, her stuffed animal, the familiar routines that continue while someone is missing. Her father is waiting too, thinking about her and looking forward to coming home. What moved me most is the final change in perspective. She hasn't really been counting the days he is away. She has been counting the days until he comes home.
As a mom and grandparent, I found How Many Days? by Codie Carlson true to the way children experience absence. Adults can understand why someone has to leave; children still feel the empty space. The repetition of that simple question captures both their need for reassurance and their very particular experience of time. I also liked the understated storytelling. There is no complicated plot, just the small objects and rituals that make up everyday family life. A drawing, a toy, a bedtime routine suddenly carry much more meaning when someone is away. For me, that is what makes this book work so well: it takes an ordinary childhood question and reveals the love inside it. We count the days because someone matters. I think this is a fabulous book to give to anyone who has to leave their children, and to children who miss a parent, whether that parent is a firefighter, a nurse, or simply someone whose job requires them to be away from home regularly.
