(NOTE: I was given a free copy of this book but all opinions are my own.)
A cow, a mule, and a miniature horse.
They are in the barn.
They are worried.
They are worried because the sun isn’t making it’s regularly scheduled appearance.
Now, if you were a cow, or a mule, or a miniature horse, what would you do?
Thankfully, the miniature horse has a good idea. He recommends that they talk to the owl. Everybody who is anybody knows that owls are smart, right?
They tell their worries to the owl. The bottom line is that if the sun is late the farmer will sleep in and the animals will never get breakfast.
Not get breakfast!?! That’s awful!
The owl knows exactly what they need to do.
He tells them to take the rooster.
Then, go over the broken fence.
Past the sleeping sheep.
Through the corn.
Past the sleeping giant.
Keep going . . .
Holy cow! That’s asking a lot. They’ve never done that before!
They are scared. (Methinks that ANYBODY would be scared if they got to the edge of the world!)
The owl tells them that they’ll have to be braver than they ever thought was possible.
Gulp!
Can they do it?
(My grandson looks a little worried, huh?)
It’s a good thing the animals have each other.
They gird up their loins and off they go.
When they finally get to the edge of the world, the rooster does his stuff. He crows!
Huzzah! The sun comes up.
Because the sun came up, the farmer woke up.
Because the farmer woke up, she fed the cow, the mule, and the miniature horse.
Happy day! The animals got breakfast. All is well.
The Sun is Late and So is The Farmer is a great children’s book written by Philip C. Stead and illustrated by Erin E. Stead.
I like it because it can be a springboard to talking with a child about being scared. You can gently talk about things that are fearful to her. You can calm her fears. You can tell her that all will be fine (just as the animals were fine) even though she may be frightened at times. She can be brave just like those animals.
I like it because the farmer is a woman. It’s a great way to break the stereotypical idea that a farmer has to be a man.
I love the illustrations in this book — especially of the owl sitting on the sign at the edge of the world. I like how that nighttime starts out as a dark blue and gradually gets lighter as dawn approaches. I like how the dawn has beautiful colors of yellow and orange. I like that there is a sunny yellow glow around the animals as they eat their breakfast. (In addition to indicating the sun came up, that glow can represent that the animals are happy to get breakfast.)
I like the plot of the story. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen a picture book where critters are worried about getting breakfast. (However, there have been LOTS of times that my own toddlers have a similar concern.) And everybody knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
I love the subtle humor. The owls tell the cow, mule, and miniature donkey that they have to sneak past a sleeping giant. That illustration shows the stocking feet of a giant who is laying down. Giants are scary, scary!
But, when they actually get to the giant, the picture shows a combine. Big combines can be scary especially to a miniature horse.
This is a delightful book — one that kids will love to listen to over and over and one that parents will enjoy reading to their children over and over. I give it 2 thumbs up!
You can get a copy on Amazon for $17.94.
