One Morning in Maine [Hardcover]

Robert McCloskey (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: P and up

"As we follow the story of Sal and his lost tooth we feel as refreshed as though we had spent a day with his family on their island".--Saturday Review. Caldecott Honor Book. Full-color illustrations.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Viking Press; 1st edition (April 14, 1952)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670526274
• ISBN-13: 978-0670526277
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 9.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #39 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Health > Personal Hygiene
  • #55 in Books > Children's Books > Travel & Cultures > Explore the World > United States

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this as a child in Maine, and I still love it today!, May 28, 2000

By 

Suzanne Amara (MA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: One Morning in Maine (Picture Puffins) (Paperback)

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.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Toothless wonder, August 17, 2001

By 

Alyssa A. Lappen (Earth) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: One Morning in Maine (Picture Puffins) (Paperback)

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

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Morning magic, June 8, 2008

By 

Linda Bulger (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: One Morning in Maine (Hardcover)

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