Customer Reviews

The Leaving Morning (Orchard Paperbacks)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Suitable for 4-8 yrs. More authors, or college Enlish Composition courses should pay attention to this author. Angela Johsnon has a way of expressing mountains of information using few words. She has a rare gift for helping the reader to really identify, on a personal level, with the story.

The story is about a moving day for a family. That's it. But, the author tells the story in such a compelling way, that it will surely evoke a dialogue about this, or similar experiences between parents and children.

I purchased this book because you never know when you might move, and I rely on talks, books, and book-talks to help my older girl understand certain life situations. This book has beautiful paintings that carry over the characters' feelings about moving. The scenes are tinged with both sadness and excitement, and the prose clearly relates what happens during a move (packing, saying goodbye to friends and family), but does not get bogged down with details. At the end of the book, the family takes a moment to sit together in the apartment that they are about to leave, holding hands and snuggling. The next pic then shows the family seen from the empty apartment's window, which the younger boy in the story (the narrator) has "left lips" on (kissed goodbye); the whole family is waving goodbye as well to the old apartment. I like the fact that they had a "goodbye ritual" for their old place...it felt healing and it strengthened the family bond. (Besides, I am a big waver.) A good book to have on hand for major life changes, or just to warm the heart.