A wonderful lyrical story that examines our concrete and abstract world in a poetic venn diagram of time, nature, and family. The timeless story highlights a few of life's, sometimes ironic, contrasts and finally circles back around to family and the little things that connect us with family and our greater humanity. The illustrations are outstanding and full of little details that my kids talk about every time we re-read the book. While this is not a book that my kids often pick up to read on their own, it IS one of our all time favorite books to read aloud. My kids are rapidly approaching double digit ages but our (dwindling) moments of snuggling and reading aloud at bedtime still regularly include this great book.