Before Morning

Reviewed by: Anne Donovan - Long Island Community Library, Long Island, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 11, 2016

Review

Caldecott Award winning artist Beth Krommes uses scratchboard art to beautifully illustrate a child's wish - written as an invocation - for a snow storm to fall overnight that will keep her mother, an airline pilot, home. The book begins with richly detailed pictures of a busy city bustling with people heading home in the evening, including the child and her mother. The story continues, with no text yet, with the scene of a cozy family dinner, bedtime ritual and a goodbye. The mother is seen packing her bag and leaving as the dad and child slumber. Then begins the text, a poem like invocation written sparsely over the remaining pages, showing the snow beginning, intensifying, flights be cancelled and the mother arriving home in the morning to spend the day with her family enjoying the snow. The final page has a message from the author, Joyce Sidman, about wishes and invocations with some thought provoking questions for further discussion. This would be a lovely book to share with Pre - K and early elementary and talk about wishes and words and explore the details to be found in the illustrations.

Overall Book Score: excellent