Darkness gives way to day as father and child enjoy their early morning (emphasis on early) routine together. The barefoot, pajama-clad child (racially ambiguous) with sleep-tangled hair pads down the hall to their parents’ bedroom to wish them good morning. Daddy groans two words: “Too early.” But, letting Mama sleep in, he gets up. Downstairs, the child greets two stretching dogs and savors the smell of Daddy’s percolating coffee. Daddy muses sleepily, “You wake up too early.” Out on the front porch, the air is cool; the moon is out. At their dad’s prompting, the child spots Venus in the sky. (“Good morning, Venus. Do you wake up too early, too?”) They climb into their father’s lap, and together they sit peacefully as the sky lightens, bringing mountains into view. Birds begin to sing; a baby sibling cries upstairs. Soon it will be “all of us together, rush rush breakfast, rush rush clothes, rush rush school.” But for now, child and father snuggle close and watch the sunrise. “And yes, it’s true. I wake up very early. I wake up just in time.” Narrated by the child, the sparse, poetic text employs repetition and thoughtful, childlike observations. While deep blues dominate the foregrounds of the drawn, cut, and collaged illustrations, light glows in the background, beckoning father and child forward as they savor a cozy moment before the hectic day begins.     (Ages 2-6)

A gentle, cozy story following a family’s bleary-eyed wake-up routine, a little one who’s eager to start the day, and the quiet magic of early mornings

I wake up very early.
Good morning, Sun, on your way at last. You don’t wake up nearly as early as I do.
   
Now the wind is waking.
Tickle tickle on my cheeks,
rustle rustle through the leaves.
  
Birds untuck and start to coo,
Whooo whooo, you wake up too early, yes you doooo . . .
  
In sweet, melodic verse written from the perspective of the earliest riser, Too Early follows a family's morning routine, exploring both the groggy haze and the everyday magic inherent in the predawn hours of a loving household.