Amazon.com: All the Way to Morning (9780761450429): Marc Harshman, Felipe Davalos: Books

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1-A look at what children all over the world might hear at night. Framed by a son's bedtime question to his father, the simple text presents round-faced, large-eyed children from Kampuchea, Israel, Japan, Scotland, and nine other countries who hear, for instance, "...the jackal/yip, yip, yipping/out among the thorn trees/searching for food" (Kenya). Double-page, acrylic paintings resemble tinted woodcuts and each child's face is framed against a background depicting the source of the sound: grandpa's violin, waves, a foghorn, or Abuela's rocking chair. Solid reinforcement for the idea that children are similar even in their differences, this book is also useful as a goodnight lap read as it will reassure preschoolers who are nervous about night noises.
Susan Hepler, Burgundy Farm Country Day School, Alexandria, VA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Here's a thoughtful and intelligent introduction to some of the many cultures around the world. On an overnight camping trip a boy's father tells him what children in countries around the world hear as they go to sleep at night. Israel, Japan, and Kenya are mentioned, but the book also shows children in less expected places such as western Samoa and Kampuchea. On the right side of each page, children will see a colorful portrait of a child, with an ethnically appropriate name, who is listening to a special sound. Habib, for example, who is from Egypt, hears the sifting of the sand; Fiona, from Scotland, hears the waves in the loch. A very small map with a black dot showing the general location of the featured country is also provided. The illustrations, filled with details, have the feeling of stained glass windows, with rich, dark colors appropriate for nighttime. Because the book features only one child per country, some of the depictions may seem stereotypical, but this is still an attractive book that will give children plenty to look at and to ask questions about. Marta Segal

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More About the Author

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GREETINGS TO MY YOUNGER FRIENDS

In my life as a writer nothing has been more important than learning to read. Growing up in the farm country of Indiana, books enabled me to imagine being somewhere else: sleeping on top of the Egyptian pyramids with Halliburton; trekking through the jungles of India with Corbett; or wandering along the Cornwall coast of England with Merlin and Arthur.

Well, I have kept at it -- my love of words and imagination -- and have now written my own books that may help you imagine being in a place you might not have thought possible. For myself I have now even made it to one of those imagined places of childhood -- Cornwall, England -- and perhaps you will, too, someday, make it to a place only dreamed of now through the invented world of a good book. I do know this, dream or no dream, you will need words to get there.

Some of my books are made from experiences that really happened to me. SNOW COMPANY is the best example. The blizzard that occurs in that story is almost exactly like a blizzard I experienced as a boy in Indiana. Living in West Virginia, whether in the country or close to it in small towns, has been important, too. By keeping me close to much that I recall from my childhood, West Virginia is important because it is the place that has been home ever since I went away to Bethany College in 1969.

It is hard to explain, but I am the kind of writer who needs to know where the woods are and that there are good friends and neighbors near by. Maybe that shows in my work. What do you think?

If you are not sure if you are a writer, don't worry. Just make sure you are a reader -- great oaks from little acorns grow -- and there is not a better acorn going than a book to grow a great life.