Good Morning Neighbor: (Picture book on sharing, kindness, and working as a team, ages 4-8)

by Davide Cali, Maria Dek (Illustrator)

Overview

A mouse decides one morning to make an omelet, but needs an egg, and sets out to find one. On his search, he eventually finds everything needed to bake a cake, including apples, flour, and sugar, but also those most precious ingredients—community and friends, from a hedgehog to an owl to a raccoon— and learns about the unexpected gifts of asking for what you need and sharing what you have.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616896997
Publisher:	Princeton Architectural Press
Publication date:	09/04/2018
Sales rank:	746,400
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Davide Cali is an award-winning children's book author of more than fifty books, including A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to School, The Queen of the Frogs, and When an Elephant Falls in Love. He lives in France and Italy.

Maria Dek studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and University of the Arts, London. She is based in Bialowieza, Poland, in the oldest forest in Europe. Her prior books include A Walk in the Forest and When I am Big.

Editorial Reviews

"In this charming and cumulative tale, a small mouse is hungry for an omelet, but doesn't have an egg."
-School Library Journal

"The roving (and ever growing) band of merry would-be bakers will bring smiles to small readers, who will rejoice in reciting the growing list of creatures and chiming in with their choral salutations of each new animal: "Good morning, neighbor." This endearing story's accumulation of animals, donations, and repetitive phrasing cleverly underscores (and embodies) the abundant, collaborative love of a tightknit community. Dek's watercolor illustrations evoke folk-art charm with their straightforward brush strokes, chunky caricatures, absence of perspective, and inherent warmth expressed through lovely details. Teamwork, sharing, and neighborly friendship emerge as integral ingredients in this sweet, satisfying book for young readers."
- Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"This charming story is about friendship, sharing and how teamwork and compromise can bring big - and delicious - ideas to life. And it's a lovely reminder of the importance of breaking bread together and coming together as a community."
-Avery & Augustine

From the Publisher

09/01/2018
K-Gr 2—In this charming cumulative tale, a small mouse is hungry for an omelet, but doesn't have an egg. He reaches out to a succession of neighbors, and each one offers something to improve on his initial request (butter, sugar, flour) and gradually adds their possessions to make a cake. Once the necessary ingredients are added, Owl contributes the use of his oven, and all that's left to decide is the division of the cake—should it be eight slices or nine? A dark watercolor palette introduces each woodland animal, some with humanlike houses in their natural surroundings. The final decision of slicing the confection incorporates the comments of the different animals, an opportunity for little ones to discover repeated phrases, predict the contributions to the cake, and reflect on the final decision to include little Mouse in its division. VERDICT The text repetition and theme of neighborly cooperation make this a suggested general purchase for most libraries.—Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX

School Library Journal

★ 2018-06-25
Forest friends need an egg to bake a cake, and while their animal neighbors cannot offer all the other necessary ingredients, they do join the confectionary quest.Mouse needs the egg for an omelet, but Blackbird has only flour, with which they can make cake. They find Dormouse, who has butter and who suggests everybody approach Mole, who has sugar—but still no egg. The roving (and ever growing) band of merry would-be bakers will bring smiles to small readers, who will rejoice in reciting the growing list of creatures and chiming in with their choral salutations of each new animal: "Good morning, neighbor." This endearing story's accumulation of animals, donations, and repetitive phrasing cleverly underscores (and embodies) the abundant, collaborative love of a tightknit community. Dek's watercolor illustrations evoke folk-art charm with their straightforward brush strokes, chunky caricatures, absence of perspective, and inherent warmth expressed through lovely details. Hedgehog sits idly in a bentwood rocker; a window box of plants hangs outside Blackbird's hollow-tree entry; strings of lights drape tree branches; a roped boardwalk spirals up a trunk to Owl's nest; a painted checkerboard motif distinguishes Mouse's doorway. When it's finally time to cut the cake, readers might feel eager to initiate their own cooking project or perhaps simply to run across the way to find a friend. Teamwork, sharing, and neighborly friendship emerge as integral ingredients in this sweet, satisfying book for young readers. (Picture book. 2-6)

Kirkus Reviews

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