Her guardian (presumably her mother) is also brown-skinned.

The illustrations depict the child with her mass of windblown curls, brown skin, and pronounced facial features as African-American. The rhymes work, though uneven syllable counts in some stanzas interrupt the smooth flow of the verse. Oliphant's expressive and light-filled watercolors clearly depict the child's emotions-eager excitement on the way to the park, delight at the kite's flight in the wind, shock when the kite breaks free, dejection, and finally relief and amazement. Her new slice-of-life story stars an equally joyful little girl who takes pleasure in flying a new kite while not venturing far off the walkway. Spurr's earlier board books ( In the Garden and At the Beach, both 2012 In the Woods, 2013) featured an adventuresome little boy. Barroux’s whimsical, naïve-style illustrations establish his work, once again, as an ideal match for Ziefert’s verse-see Bunny’s Lessons (2011) and My Dog Thinks I’m a Genius (2011) as other strong collaborations.Ī successful offering from a well-matched pair. By the time he snuggles down to sleep, he is smiling as his mother (heretofore unseen amid all of his adventures) stands in his bedroom doorway. The climax of the text reads (with a bit of a rhythmic misstep) “Good Morning! Good Morning! / To everything in sight! By the time I get through saying Good Morning, it’s time to say… // Good Night,” and then, looking rather forlorn, the child says “Good Night” to everything he’d greeted on prior pages.

Good Morning to the rooster, // Good Morning to the cow, / Good Morning to the piggies in the pen.” Ensuing pages show the boy greeting other creatures, things and places, moving from the pastoral setting of the opening to a city scene. Over the first three double-page spreads, spare verse (based on a song by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) relates the various sights that a boy beholds as he opens his window to the day: “Good Morning to the sun, / Good Morning to the hills, // Good Morning to the chickies and the hen. A child greets the day and then says goodnight in this circular picture book.

First Night by Harriet Ziefert