The earth is turning. Across the country the sun arcs from east to west, and the natural world responds. "Good morning, the dawn. . . . Good morning, the morning. . . . Good noon, the noon. . . . Good afternoon, the afternoon / The birds stop singing. The antelopes doze. The lizard hides." Jean Craighead George's narrative of the cycle of dawn to darkness and back again across the continent is as awe-inspiring as nature itself, and just as paradoxical: simple yet complex, powerful yet peaceful. Her brief and exquisite text marks the passage of the sun across the continent, and Wendell Minor echoes this progression in full-page, richly rendered paintings that show the flora and fauna of various regions of the country. Endnotes provide specific information about the region and natural life depicted in each illustration of singular volume. (Ages 4-8)

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. Newbery Medalist Jean Craighead George's lyric greeting to the day celebrates how the earth turns to and then away from the sun. Starting at dawn on the East Coast, then moving to afternoon in the Midwest, and finally evening in the West, young readers will meet a wide array of animals at work, rest, and play as the day progresses across America. With evocative, dramatic paintings by distinguished artist Wendell Minor, this stunning picture book provides a sweeping panorama of the American countryside as well as a remarkable look at how an animal's day parallels our own.

00 Kansas Bill Martin, Jr. Picture Book Award Masterlist