Time to Fly!

In a perceptive pairing of language and art, author/illustrator Valerie Wiebe invites readers to reflect on how to realize and appreciate their place in the world. Introspective and spiritual, these rhymed musings might offer inspiration at the beginning of a journey, a new phase of one's life or during a time of emotional upheaval or change. They encourage embracing faith, courage, strength, attentiveness, open-mindedness and ambition.

The full-page illustrations come from a series of paintings inspired by the widespread vistas of the author's prairie home. The perspective of flying above the landscape gives an all-encompassing view leading the eye to horizons and beyond and limited only by one's imagination. Wide swaths of color and variations of light in many of them place the focus on mood rather than detail, leaving ample possibility for individual interpretation. The illustrations will be most appealing to an older audience that can understand the general concepts and relate the images to personal life experiences, but they may foster discussion with young children encouraged to share responses to specific aspects that evoke emotions.

Wiebe has included some background detail in the final pages that gives more meaning to each illustration. Reading these notes about the source of each idea adds another level of understanding: take the time to re-appreciate the paintings in Time to Fly! with this additional information.