On the Day You Were Born: Book and Musical CD [Hardcover]

Debra Frasier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2005 | Grade Level: Kindergarten and up

<DIV>Debra Frasier's modern classic On the Day You Were Born has been welcoming babies into the world for more than a decade--and has sold over a million copies. Now this favorite hardcover book comes to life with a musical CD featuring an original composition by Matthew Smith to accompany the author's moving narration.

The spinning earth, the glowing moon, the rising tides--each natural wonder appears in an evocative instrumental arrangement that makes for a moving and memorable gift, perfect to celebrate the arrival of every new baby.
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Welcome a special baby to the world with the beautiful, award-winning celebration of new life by Debra Frasier (On the Day You Were Born)--and a soft, cozy receiving blanket printed with birds and stars. This tasteful gift set is perfect for expectant parents. The book features cut-paper illustrations of the natural world in rich blues, bright yellows, earthy greens, and warm reds. Lyrical text rejoices in a baby's birth: "'Welcome to the spinning world,' the people sang, / as they washed your new, tiny hands.... / And as they held you close / they whispered into your open, curving ear, / 'We are so glad you've come!'" Parents, friends, and grandparents can read the gentle story aloud as they hold baby in the lovely 30-by-40-inch, 100 percent cotton washable blanket. --Emilie Coulter --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Offering a curious amalgam of the mystical and the scientific, Frasier's first picture book is a paean to nature and to birth. The poetic text explains how the sun, moon, ocean tides, rain, trees, air, animals and people of the world work together to create a welcoming setting for a baby's arrival. Young readers will find Frasier's rhythmic passages soothing, if not always entirely comprehensible: "On the day you were born the Moon pulled on the ocean below, and, wave by wave, a rising tide washed the beaches clean for your footprints. . . ." The volume concludes with notes on the natural and technical phenomena mentioned in the text, including animal migration, the rotation of the earth, gravity, stellar constellations and precipitation. Illustrating this unusual book, Frasier's paper collages feature a mostly muted palette of earth tones that is somewhat lacking in child appeal. Though it might spark interesting discussions with an older child, this work will be over the heads of little ones. All ages.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; HAR/COM edition (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152055673
• ISBN-13: 978-0152055677
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 11.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (132 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #118,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

DEBRA FRASIER is the author and illustrator of the picture book classic On the Day You Were Born. Her other books include Out of the Ocean, winner of the Southeast Booksellers Association Children's Book Award, and Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster, an IRA Teachers' Choice and an IRA-CBC Children's Choice, A Birthday Cake is No Ordinary Cake, and a Fabulous Fair Alphabet, a CCBC Children's Concept Book Selection. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and offers an award winning website for teachers and families at www.debrafrasier.com.

While well known for her talks on book creation and creative process for adults and children, Debra's work does not stop with the last page of a book. Often entire community projects grow around her titles:

On the Day You Were Born is given in hospitals to newborns, murals cover birthing center hospital walls, and a symphony travels the country blending music, pictures, and text.

Miss Alaineus offers the astonishing Vocabulary Parade, so don't miss the short videos at her website showing the book's process and a sample parade in a school. Thousands of schools participate every year! Kids go wild with creativity and imagination in designing vocabulary words into costumes. (www.debrafrasier.com) A teacher wrote in 2012: "The Vocabulary Parade is my favorite event to plan each year...The students never forget the words showcased in the parade and point them out while we read our class novels all the time..."

A Birthday Cake Is No Ordinary Cake has served as the inspiration for numerous community service projects where young people make "cake boxes" for the local food shelves.

And, most recently, A Fabulous Fair Alphabet offers a game to play at your local fair! OR consider hosting an Alphabet Fair at your local school or community center, directions on the website! Watch the invitation-to-play video, filmed at the Minnesota State Fair where Debra served as the Author in Residence in 2010, hosting a vocabulary booth for thousands of participants. (Watch a summary of this fair project at her website.) Also, a virtual fair tour on the website will introduce the fair to anyone who longs to see animals, rides, and fair foods!

It's all at: www.debrafrasier.com!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Radiant and moving July 13, 2001

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

"On the day you were born a forest of tall trees collected the Sun's light in their leaves, where, in silent mystery, they made oxygen for you to breathe..." Radiant and moving, it doesn't get much better than this explaining what went on in the Universe the day your child was born. A book that I highly recommend. A child will feel and know that they are a significant part of Universe. A beautiful book to give as a gift.Although this book is recommended for the 4-8 group, a child of 12 months will be fascinated and held captive with this book and grow along with the book.This is a beautiful book celebrating the joy and wonder when a child is born. It describes how everyone, from animals to people to Earth itself, celebrated when 'you'were born. A child can't help but feel loved and very special when this book is read to them. And the parent, who is reading the book, can't help but realize how wonderful bring a new baby into the world really is. This is an ideal gift for a family when a child is born.

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Quintessential Baby Gift April 6, 2002

By Wendy Kaplan

Format:Hardcover

I wish I had known about this book long before now, because it would have been the only gift I would have given to any new parent. It certainly will be so from now on.

In the most beautiful and spiritual wording imaginable, this book tells a child in no uncertain terms that his or her birth was a celebration--a cosmic event that changed the world for the better. Although it has some New Age aspects to it, it transcends any religion or dogma, and is, quite simply, completely beautiful.

I want to buy it now, for my two teenaged children to cherish and keep. I want them to know that even though I often want to wring their respective teenaged necks, this is what they mean to me--every single word in this glorious book. I have never felt so moved over a baby gift as I am over this one. It is truly a gift of the heart, not only for me, but for anyone who is, or who has just become, a parent.

Sometimes we forget just how much of a celebration the arrival of a new child can be. "On the Day You Were Born" is meant to remind us, and our children, now and forever. What a wonderful keepsake!!

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Birthday Tradition June 17, 2000

By Barbsjemms

Format:Hardcover

In my family, we have used this book to start a yearly b-day tradition. I read this book to each of my children the night of her birthday with the whole family in attendence. I have yet to get through a reading without crying. Am tearing up thinking about it now LOL A lovely, touching book and a wonderful way to communicate to your children how deeply they are loved.