cover image Morning Sounds, Evening Sounds

Morning Sounds, Evening Sounds

Cecile Schoberle, Harvey Stevenson. Simon & Schuster, $14 (1pp) ISBN 978-0-671-87437-7

This beguiling duo uses quiet charm to introduce youngsters to everyday sights and sounds. A girl in Day Lights wakes to ``morning sunlight,'' then encounters the refrigerator's light, a traffic signal as she heads for school, and so on through her day, until the twinkling stars shine and ``my sleepy eyes close.'' (The light emanating from a toy robot's flashing eyes is a particularly engaging choice.) In the second book, an African American boy notes specific sounds as he follows his daily routine. And here, too, Schoberle ( Esmeralda and the Pet Parade ) chooses common yet often overlooked examples: the ``pop'' of bread from a toaster, the ``swish'' of the school bus doors opening and closing. Stevenson's ( As the Crow Flies ) crosshatched ink-and-watercolor illustrations cast a glow of cozy familiarity over these homey scenes, in which several unusual perspectives add distinction and variety. Ages 3-6. (June)