When the Earth Wakes [Hardcover]

Ani Rucki (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1998 | Age Level: 4 and up

Artist and writer Ani Rucki uses two charming bears and Earth's dynamic landscape to compare the season's "waking" in spring and "falling asleep" in winter to a child's day. Full color Ages 4-7. Pub: 2/98. .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Striking primitivist illustrations in colored pencil on black board create a robust backdrop for Rucki's (Turkey's Gift to the People) paean to the changing seasons. Employing flat perspectives and stylized shapes?circles for heads, semicircles for the wings of geese in flight, cookie-cutter evergreen trees and stars, undulating lines for the horizon?Rucki's toddler-friendly art lends these pages a reassuring sense of solidity and familiarity, enhanced by a deeply earth-toned palette. Heavy strokes and simple patterns create intriguing contrasts, as in the juxtaposition of a highly tactile field of grass or snow and ethereal northern lights. This simple visual style relates seamlessly to the economical story line and the effortlessly childlike narration. A curious bear cub and its mother watch as the earth "throws off her snowy blankets" when winter changes into spring, then comes fully alive in summer (when she "heats up and thunders through long, hot days"), eventually grows "drowsy" in fall and "drapes herself in colorful leaves," and finally "covers herself with blankets of snow" to sleep through the long cold winter. The text flows at a pace ideal for reading aloud; in light of the ending, it is particularly well suited for bedtime. Certainly the idioms here, visual as well as verbal, are well-worn; the approach, however, feels fresh and new. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-K?A gentle book about the Earth in all her glory. She is presented as a living creature who dances with fresh breezes in spring, heats up and thunders in summer, drapes herself in leaves for fall, and covers herself with blankets of snow in winter. The soothing, simple text is evenly paced, inviting children to turn the pages, while the full-page illustrations reward them with well-designed, rich imagery. As the text talks of the Earth, the art shows a mother bear and her cub living through the seasonal changes: waking from their hibernation, eating fish caught fresh from a stream, playing with fireflies, and becoming drowsy from an ample supply of blueberries. This visual metaphor helps tie the creatures of the land to the planet's cycle showing the innate, inevitable connections of all living things. While the land may look like north country, the bluntness of the design is more representational than specific. A fine read-aloud or a cozy book to share just before bed.?Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic; 1st edition (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590059513
• ISBN-13: 978-0590059510
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,246,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful introduction to the changing seasons....., August 19, 2000

By 

"mom2socialworker" (San Bruno, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When the Earth Wakes (Hardcover)

I stumbled across this book...and had to buy it for my 4 yr
old daughter. I love books that build connections with the natural
world and this is a wonderful introduction to the way seasons change
the earth. Its beautifully illustrated and a makes for a nice bedtime
book.