When I Wake Up

PreS-Gr 1–A little boy awakens one morning and realizes he is the first up in his home. Having been told that he isn’t supposed to wake his parents till seven, this urchin begins to imagine what his morning might be like without any supervision. Readers are then treated to two distinct visions of the day playing out side by side. On one side of the page, readers witness him eating lots of cereal, drawing fantastical and colorful pictures of cityscapes with horses and dragons, and taking a pit stop for some much-needed marshmallows. The other version of his morning consists of him zipping up his coat and riding his scooter to the family’s garden. Once there, he climbs a huge tree and listens to the wind, digs in the dirt, and observes the world around him. What he eventually decides to do is climb into bed with his parents, which ends the book on a cozy note. Watercolor and pencil illustrations have a dreamy tone, while endpapers of a digital alarm clock add a whimsical touch.