Customer Reviews

One Morning In Maine (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (Picture Puffin Books (Pb))

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book, along with Blueberries for Sal and Time of Wonder, by the same author, were some of my favorite books as a child growing up in Maine. I loved them because the children did things I did---dug for clams, picked blueberries, took boat rides to get ice cream, played on the rocky shore and on and on! I loved the pictures because they are so detailed and realistic. This book in particular was a favorite because it was about an older Sal than in Blueberries for Sal, dealing with the universal excitement of losing a first tooth. I love her relationship with her younger sister Jane, who is drawn as one of the most adorable toddlers around. If you are looking for a calm and wholesome in the best way book for your child, this might be one you want to consider.

There are lots of books about loosing teeth now, all of them more recent than this one, which remains one of the best.

Most of the newer stories revolve around the tooth fairy. They're good.

But in this one, there's no fairy --- and no tooth.

Sal's loose tooth falls into the mud while she's clamming on the way to Buck's Harbor.

The bad news is that she can't find the tooth. The good news is that life goes on, Sal learns about seagulls molting their feathers and she learns how to accept a little loss.

She makes a wish and gets an ice cream. In our house, the tooth fairy sometimes got lost. But the kids learned from Sal that little losses are nothing, and life does go on.

--- Alyssa A. Lappen

To a child, every morning is a new start with infinite possibilities; at least that's how it should be. In this classic 1953 book Robert McCloskey brings a child's simple world to life. McCloskey, better known for his Make Way for Ducklings and Blueberries for Sal, gives us another look at little Sal. The story is timeless and his line drawings bring the children to life.

The simple coastal lifestyle of more than half a century ago may be hard to find today, in part because of the high local tax valuation of shore and island properties. Still, if you were to take a child to the rocky coast of Maine this summer, she could be little Sal in the clam flats. One Morning in Maine (Picture Puffin) is full of that magical atmosphere where the land and ocean meet. We all want that magic!

McCloskey's Caldecott-honored book tells a simple story. Young Sal wakes up on a sunny morning in Maine with an adventure in store. She and her little sister are going with their father in the boat to Buck's Harbor to dig clams. There are idyllic family scenes, lessons from their father about the world around them, ice cream cones at the store, and the disappointment of a loose tooth lost in the clam flats.

Simple stuff? It certainly is, and just the sort of simple stuff children thrive on. Sal's morning may be long ago and far away, but the curiosity and wonder of a child's new day will be with us forever.

Linda Bulger, 2008

This book truely dipicts coastal Maine life in the 60's and 70's. I can astest to this fact as I my self grew up only a few miles away from Buck's Harbor, visited Mr. Condon's Garage, and bought sodas at the small Mom and Pops store in the Village where Sal and Jane got thier ice creams. And to top it off gone fishing in Bucks Harbor with my own farther.
I love this book. If you would like to know about being a young girl on the Coast of Maine, or share the expirience with your children. Please read One Morning In Maine, By Robert McCloskey. I would also recomend, Blue Berries for Sal, and A time of Wonder, also By Mr. McCloskey.

This is a wonderful book that takes place in Maine. It is about a little girl and her adventures of trying to lose her tooth to actually loosing it, in the mud and not being able to find it. Her day is packed full with wonderful things to do such as getting ice cream, playing by the sea, helping her dad claming. Even though she does not end up being able to put her tooth under her pillow for the tooth fairy, she comes to understand that there will be more teeth and more chances to put one under her pillow. I really enjoy this book because I think it captures the wonders of Maine and the beauty of living in Maine so well, I also like the illustrations. This book would be great to introduce different states to children. The children learn that little losses are easy to get over and they just make them stronger and more prepared next time something hard comes in their path

I just think that this book is one of the most wonderful and beautiful children's books I have ever seen! One thing that sets this book apart from most other fictional children's books is that the main characters in the book are, in reality, the author himself and his family --- his wife, Peggy, and his two daughters, who actually are named Sarah ("Sal") and Jane --- and as far as I know, the author drew them as they really looked at the time! (I especially got a kick out of the drawings of lively tousle-haired little Jane, who, if you notice, is always shown in a different cute or amusing pose in every picture she appears in! And Jane's facial features and expression in the story are particularly amusing to me, too... her father was amazingly accurate in depicting them. I should know --- I have met Jane McCloskey personally, and though she is hardly a "little girl" anymore, that is still how she looks at you!) The other characters and places in the book actually existed, also, and their real names are used, just as they are in "A Time Of Wonder". So one can sort of "relate" to this story in a closer, more personal way. I also admired how pleasantly all the characters treat each other in the story. Highly recommended!!!

My father, originally a New Yorker, who has relocated to Maine about five times in his life because he could never leave it for long, loves to share this book with his grandchildren. If one of them loves the book, it is a happy day for Dad. First of all, the simple but beautiful illustrations really look like Maine. Much of Maine does look like a pen-and-ink sketch, and McCloskey captures that beautifully. Even the scenes that take place indoors look like Maine! Since I haven't lived in Maine myself for many, many years, I find these lovely drawings very nostalgic. And how fun is it to know that Condon's store and Condon's garage were real places? I believe Robert McCloskey even gave his characters some very authentic Maine personalities. Mainers are great -- not sugary sweet and very reserved, but lovely just the same, and that's how the various adults in this story are presented. But you don't have to have a Maine connection to love this book. It is a wonderful way to introduce very little kids to the fact that they will lose a tooth when they are five or six, and a reading of this book is a fun way to celebrate a lost tooth. Anyone can enjoy the illustrations, which are simplistic and highly detailed at the same time, and it is a nice family tale with a father-daughter theme. Our youngest son loves for his Poppy George to read it whenever they are together, and they often top off a reading with a visit to a restaurant to order a bowl of clam chowder (a food that his mentioned on the last page of this book). My poor father actually dislikes clam chowder, but our son eats it in his honor because of this story, and it is a way for them to bond thanks to One Morning in Maine. Hey, if a book can make one of my kids Grandchild No. 1, I have to give it five stars.

My almost 5 year old son had a loose tooth and this was recommended by a friend. It was perfect and we have read it again and again. My son never tires of this story.

I love the book One Mornign In Maine! I was read this book my my mother many times as a child and still love reading it today! The illustrations are excellent, they portray exactly what a moring in Maine could look like. You fall in love with Sal after the first page. Her adventures through the book are so exciting! Having a loose tooth to clamming with her father and getting ice cream with her little sister make us want to be there with her. Even though she is disappointed by the fact that she doesn't get to put her tooth under her pillow for the tooth fairy she learns that life goes on and she will loose other teeth. Also by being a big girl now makes up for that. This book is great for every child. Whether it's read to them by a parent or teacher it offers meaning either way. Also it is a great book to start off a unit being taught about Maine

I have such fond memories of this book being read to me as a child. Our family vacations in Maine only solidified my admiration for this wonderful story. I can't wait to share it with my son!