Who Gets the Sun Out of Bed?

Carlstrom, Nancy White

ISBN 10: 0316128627 ISBN 13: 9780316128629

Publisher: Little Brown & Co, 1992

Synopsis

Moody colors of darkness illustrate a story of what happens when the sun oversleeps but finally wakes with a burst of warm energy.

About this title

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2-- An innovative reversal of the bedtime story, this one is not about going to sleep, but about waking up. A winter sun, reluctant to rouse, is finally coaxed out of bed by the moon, a pet rabbit, and little boy. The three characters move quietly through a dim, snowy night, described in a poetic language of repetition and rhythmic sentences. The title question is answered three times; the moon wakes the bunny, who wakes the boy. Then all three appeal to the reluctant sun, who is tucked into a bed that revolves around the earth. The persistent gentle patterns of questions and answers leads up to a climax that is warm but not boisterous--a fitting, final ending to a story that, despite its message, functions as an appropriate bedtime tale. Opaque watercolors with fine pen outlines are framed by a rough line and surrounded by the white of the page, giving them a sense of isolation from the ``real'' world; predominating blues, deep and rich, are set off all the more dramatically by the contrast with the stark border. The pictures have a translucent, dreamy quality appropriate to the icy setting; the landscape has a Scandinavian look, and perhaps even a Christmas time glow. An altogether successful story about the coming of day. --Ruth K. MacDonald, Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, IN
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly

In a format similar to Where Does the Night Hide? (but this time a riddle) Carlstrom asks, "In the cold, dark winter, who gets the sun out of bed?" McPhail's slumbering sun sails midnight-blue skies in the huge four-poster bed from Adam's Smile . The toasty sphere orbits high above a frozen landscape and a solitary house distinguishable by its mile-high smoke plumes. Framed in abundant white space--but offering no answers to the fanciful question--are a snow-laden spruce tree ("Not the spruce tree, sighing softly in the starlight"), glittering stars, the snow and the house itself. Nor do homey objects radiating warmth yield answers; only in predawn hours do the moon, a bunny and a sleeping boy finally rouse old Sol. McPhail's riveting purples, set against chilly blues and luminous orangy yellows, beguile the eye and soul, yet Carlstrom's replies, while capturing the rhythms of deepest night with lingering sibilance, are sometimes confusing. Children may wonder how the fire, stove and kettle pertain to the query, although the riddle and responses, along with compelling watercolors, do convey the soothing hum of night's passage. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Little Brown & Co
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0316128627
• ISBN 13: 9780316128629
• Binding: Library Binding
• Language: English
• Illustrator: McPhail David