Dad and Me in the Morning

by Patricia Lakin, Robert G. Steele (Illustrator)

Overview

A deaf boy and his father share an early morning adventure.

Early one morning, a young boy wakes to the light of his alarm clock. He puts on his hearing aids and clothes, then goes to wake his father. Together they brave the cold as they walk down the dirt road that leads to the beach. Lakin's understated story reminds readers that sometimes the best way to communicate doesn't involve words, while Steele’s watercolor illustrations show that beauty is never far away.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807593851
Publisher:	Whitman, Albert & Company
Publication date:	01/01/1994
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	9 MB
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Patricia Lakin is an award-winning author and former elementary school teacher who has published a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction titles that span multiple age groups. As a die-hard New Yorker, she is continually in awe of the inspiration the vibrant, diverse city can offer.
Robert G. Steele was originally trained as an architect and studied art in Austria as a Fulbright scholar. He has painted for Broadway productions, magazines, and many adult and children's books. He lives in California with his wife and children.

Editorial Reviews

PreS-Gr 2-A young deaf boy awakens to the light of his special alarm clock, puts in his hearing aids, and tiptoes to awaken his father. Together they walk to the beach, observing nature. Jacob and his father have ``lots of ways of talking...signing or lipreading or just squeezing each other's hands.'' For the most part, the straightforward text employs vigorous language: crunchy shells and snaky seaweed, hermit crabs scoot and sea gulls swoop and gobble; but a few of the word choices, such as ``eensy'' and ``orangier,'' are less effective. Each page of text, placed on a pastel rectangle and bordered by lots of white space, faces a full-page, full-color illustration. Steele's striking watercolors employ earth tones; blues and greens; and red-orange, pale gold, and pink. The range of light is effectively conveyed, from the predawn dark to the brilliant sunrise at the end. (A quibble-two double-page spreads depicting the sunrise are actually darker than the four previous pictures, one of which finds Jacob saying, ``It's getting lighter.'') This story is similar to, but somewhat wider in scope than, Uri Shulevitz's Dawn (Farrar, 1974). Appropriate for both one-on-one and group sharing.-Cynthia K. Richey, Mt. Lebanon Public Library, Pittsburgh, PA

School Library Journal

In a special morning interlude, a young boy awakens his father, and they go down to the beach to watch the sunrise. The young boy is deaf, but he and his father have many ways of communicating. Dealt with simply, as part of the reality of their relationship, the boy's deafness is unobtrusively woven into this story about a father and child sharing a moment in time. In tune with the sensitive tone of the text, Steele's atmospheric watercolor illustrations capture the rising light of dawn as well as the love between the boy and his father. Reminiscent of Jane Yolen's "Owl Moon" (1987), this warm story can be considered for all picture book collections.

Annie Ayres

"What makes this one special is the handsome impressionistic watercolors evoking the shadowy, gradually brightening scene and the casually introduced fact that the young narrator is deaf but has many ways of communicating (including both lip reading and signing) and enjoys a grand range of observations and sensations, crowned by the glorious sunrise he shares with his dad."—Kirkus Reviews

"Dealt with simply, as part of the reality of their relationship, the boy's deafness is unobtrusively woven into this story about a father and child sharing a moment in time. In tune with the sensitive tone of the text, Steele's atmospheric watercolor illustrations capture the rising light of dawn as well as the love between the boy and his father."—Booklist

From the Publisher