Way to Start a Day

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

In this Caldecott Honor Book, the way to start the day is to go outside, face the east and greet the sun, as others in the past and present have celebrated the dawn. PW praised ``the author's sensitive prose and Parnall's glittering paintings in this beautiful work.'' (69)

Children's Literature - Marilyn Bagel

Nature is filled with melodic voices, if only we would take the time to hear them. Most people don't, admonishes the author of this poetic text. In these days of modems and faxes and beepers and pagers, here is a book that ís a breath of fresh air. A soulful spiritual story, it goes way beyond the old "stop and smell the roses" expression. It is a tale about an old man who shares his secrets with a young friend about "the other way to listen." "Don't start with a mountain," advises the elder. "Start with one seed pod or one dry weed or one horned toad or one handful of dirt." Equally entrancing are the illustrations which blend imagery so harmoniously that you don't know where the drawing ends and where nature begins.