Celebrate the cycle of the day, as the earth turnes to and then away from the sun, and meet a wide array of animals from America's east coast to the west as they work and rest, eat and play, just as humans do.

Jean Craighead George's lyrical greeting to the day becomes a sweeping panorama of the American countryside with Wendell Minor's evocative, dramatic paintings.

Good morning, the dawn,
when the earth is turning from night to day
and waking begins.

00 Kansas Bill Martin, Jr. Picture Book Award Masterlist

I also think that this would be a perfect book for a family interested in observing daily rhythms and routine, especially Waldorf-oriented families.


A Naturally Wonderful Children's Book   October 20, 2001
A great children's book with wonderful illustrations that will spark young children's interest into the animals they may send around them.

I have always loved George's work and now there is a book that even the youngest of children can enjoy, from this nature loving Newberry Medal-winning author.

To date I have bought four copies as gifts for friends and family members who just had newborn babies.


pictures don't match the words making it an annoying book   September 15, 2001
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

The illustrations are realistic and high quality. I have issus wth the organization of the verses and the verses not matching the illustrations.

One problem lies in that each verse cites up to five different animals and that not all the animals are pictured on the pages. This is very confusing for my four year old who asks me where a certain animal is pictured and it simply is not there. Other pages where the verse references time of day (afternoon) and no animals, show animals. Why not have pictured simple landscapes with skies that relate to that time of day instead? For example the picture for noon doesn't even show a sun, let alone a bright shining sun, it shows a close up of bison, and bison are not mentioned in that passage at all.

Sometimes the animals within one passage are not even related to each other by habitat. An example is mentioning a stork, killdeer and a cardinal in the same passage. Yes, they are all birds but they just aren't in the same habitat, preventing them from being depicted in an illustration together. I'd have prefered mentioning three ocean dwelling creatures within one passage, even if some were birds, some fish, and some ocean dwelling mammals.

I do love picture books that feature seasonal themes or time-of-day themes. I also love books that feature animals.

I have never seen such an annoying arrangement of verses and such a mismatch of words with illustrations in a picture book for young children. For this confusion and annoyance, I grant one star. I dislike it so much that I can't stand to read it to my children and am donating it to my local library.


A simple story for young readers with superb illustrations!   November 25, 1999
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This is simply a wonderful book! I truly enjoyed using it while tutoring a fourth grade remedial reader because it was simple, yet beautifully worded and superbly illustrated. Each illustration is a marvelous nature portrait in itself. My fourth grade student (who happens to be very interested in science) savored each lovely portrait, as we talked about the animals and environments depicted in each one. Though the words are few and simple, the book avoids being overly childish. Rather, it respectfully presents the cycle of the day (morning, noon and night) and the beauty of various animals as they act in their natural environments throughout the day.