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Sunday Morning
It's Sunday morning, very early Sunday morning. Anthony and Nicholas are not supposed to wake their parents before 9:45 am. (Whenever that is.) Certainly, three puzzles falling off a shelf isn't enough to wake them. And what about some music or a game of boat in the living room? These wouldn't wake them up, would they?
But when Nick really yells help, the know they're in trouble. Then the boys and their parents discover something they never would have imagined.
But when Nick really yells help, the know they're in trouble. Then the boys and their parents discover something they never would have imagined.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1968
47 people want to read
About the author
Judith Viorst
119 books808 followersJudith Viorst is an American writer, newspaper journalist, and psychoanalysis researcher. She is known for her humorous observational poetry and for her children's literature. This includes The Tenth Good Thing About Barney (about the death of a pet) and the Alexander series of short picture books, which includes Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (1972), which has sold over two million copies.
Viorst is a 1952 graduate of the Newark College of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. In 1968, she signed the "Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War. In the latter part of the 1970s, after two decades of writing for children and adults, Viorst turned to the study of Freudian psychology. In 1981, she became a research graduate at Washington Psychoanalytic Institute after six years of study.
Viorst is a 1952 graduate of the Newark College of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. In 1968, she signed the "Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War. In the latter part of the 1970s, after two decades of writing for children and adults, Viorst turned to the study of Freudian psychology. In 1981, she became a research graduate at Washington Psychoanalytic Institute after six years of study.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
September 15, 2016
My vintage paperback edition from 1968 was such a dated delight after some dreary romances that I have read as of late. I can only hope that the reissued story has the same artwork as the original. Hilary Knight’s drawings were awesome. All of the illustrations were in two colors: blue or black on a stark white background. You can’t help but notice the exquisite detail.
What makes this book so unusual were the goofy moments wedged between a night-after of adult partying. Remember, this is not a typical politically-correct children’s piece of fiction. For this reason I can’t recommend it to all children; it depends on the age and I feel it needs to be an individual parental decision.
”Last night my mother and father came home late. Mother said good night and Father said tomorrow is Sunday and don’t make noise and don’t come in our room. We don’t want to hear tie my shoes or give me breakfast or may I watch television. We do not want to hear anything until 9:45 A.M.—and we’ll tell you when that is.
Okay I said. See you at 9:45 A.M. whenever that is.”
Older brother (OB) tosses and turns and has a rough time of sleep. He is up early (the shades of blue indicate the sun hasn’t risen yet), dresses himself and jumps on his younger brother, Nick’s, bed. He says and does stuff because no adults are around to monitor him. You know he wants his parents to awaken and give him their full attention. Because Mother and Father don’t come into their room, OB does everything he can to annoy and goad little Nick into trouble.
It is still very early. "We color. We paste. We build a tower higher than my bed. Nick kicks down the tower. I kick Nick. Nick writes with red crayon on my best book. I mash his fireman’s hat. A voice from the other room growls some boys are going to be spanked. Quit fighting I tell Nick or I’ll give you a karate chop. I trade him my cowboy belt for his ring with the skull on it. We quit fighting.”
For the moment.
OB and Nick rearrange furniture. They slide on a rug. And get into some serious mayhem. Father and Mother race down the stairway…….
Because it was a children’s story, there is an HEA.
5 stars for the graphics + 3.5 stars for the story’s content = 4 stars
What makes this book so unusual were the goofy moments wedged between a night-after of adult partying. Remember, this is not a typical politically-correct children’s piece of fiction. For this reason I can’t recommend it to all children; it depends on the age and I feel it needs to be an individual parental decision.
”Last night my mother and father came home late. Mother said good night and Father said tomorrow is Sunday and don’t make noise and don’t come in our room. We don’t want to hear tie my shoes or give me breakfast or may I watch television. We do not want to hear anything until 9:45 A.M.—and we’ll tell you when that is.
Okay I said. See you at 9:45 A.M. whenever that is.”
Older brother (OB) tosses and turns and has a rough time of sleep. He is up early (the shades of blue indicate the sun hasn’t risen yet), dresses himself and jumps on his younger brother, Nick’s, bed. He says and does stuff because no adults are around to monitor him. You know he wants his parents to awaken and give him their full attention. Because Mother and Father don’t come into their room, OB does everything he can to annoy and goad little Nick into trouble.
It is still very early. "We color. We paste. We build a tower higher than my bed. Nick kicks down the tower. I kick Nick. Nick writes with red crayon on my best book. I mash his fireman’s hat. A voice from the other room growls some boys are going to be spanked. Quit fighting I tell Nick or I’ll give you a karate chop. I trade him my cowboy belt for his ring with the skull on it. We quit fighting.”
For the moment.
OB and Nick rearrange furniture. They slide on a rug. And get into some serious mayhem. Father and Mother race down the stairway…….
Because it was a children’s story, there is an HEA.
5 stars for the graphics + 3.5 stars for the story’s content = 4 stars
August 3, 2016
My favorite aspect of this book was the incredibly expressive, evocative illustrations. Shadow figures depict two imaginative boys trying to quietly have fun until their parents will consent to get out of bed. But boy do they have a lot of adventures before 9:45 AM hits.
The choices the artist made with the boys' body language were so refreshingly engaging; you could just feel the energy in those rooms as the children misbehaved, fought each other, made up ridiculous scenarios that felt like Serious Business, and tried (unsuccessfully) to avoid awakening their parents. And though they hurt each other and tease each other, these brothers, Nick and Anthony, clearly have a close relationship that was easily felt in the pages. The narration was realistic and in character throughout, and I think children can relate to these kids.
Though I gave this book five stars, I was disappointed by one thing: On the last page, the family finally turns the lights on, and we see what they look like outside of silhouettes. I preferred imagining them without so much definition, and I had them cast as a black family in my head, so was sad to see them colored white when the lights came on. I've also heard some people say they don't like that one of the kids keeps saying "god" because it constitutes taking the Lord's name in vain, so if that matters to you, you might want to avoid this one if you don't want to have that conversation with your kids.
The choices the artist made with the boys' body language were so refreshingly engaging; you could just feel the energy in those rooms as the children misbehaved, fought each other, made up ridiculous scenarios that felt like Serious Business, and tried (unsuccessfully) to avoid awakening their parents. And though they hurt each other and tease each other, these brothers, Nick and Anthony, clearly have a close relationship that was easily felt in the pages. The narration was realistic and in character throughout, and I think children can relate to these kids.
Though I gave this book five stars, I was disappointed by one thing: On the last page, the family finally turns the lights on, and we see what they look like outside of silhouettes. I preferred imagining them without so much definition, and I had them cast as a black family in my head, so was sad to see them colored white when the lights came on. I've also heard some people say they don't like that one of the kids keeps saying "god" because it constitutes taking the Lord's name in vain, so if that matters to you, you might want to avoid this one if you don't want to have that conversation with your kids.
November 19, 2015
5* art
4* story
Definitely not PC. Hahahahahaha. Oh I laughed. Amazing silhouette illustrations - most of the humour is left unsaid, which makes this another perfect marriage of author and illustrator.
Afraid to read this to Squirt more than once or twice at this stage. It's amazing how many books are about kids destroying a house. I'm going to lock this one up in the safe. Squirt just listened wide-eyed, but I thought, "NO. This one we will nip in the bud." I'll read it to him again when he's got his own apartment.
4* story
Definitely not PC. Hahahahahaha. Oh I laughed. Amazing silhouette illustrations - most of the humour is left unsaid, which makes this another perfect marriage of author and illustrator.
Afraid to read this to Squirt more than once or twice at this stage. It's amazing how many books are about kids destroying a house. I'm going to lock this one up in the safe. Squirt just listened wide-eyed, but I thought, "NO. This one we will nip in the bud." I'll read it to him again when he's got his own apartment.
October 29, 2016
I loved this book - this will be fun to read with the kids - the illustrations by the great Hilary Knight are inspired.
February 12, 2012
I am utterly disappointed in this book and can't for the life of me figure out how it has managed a 4-star rating. I generally love Judith Viorst, but the only good thing about Sunday Morning is Hilary Knight's artwork. Sadly, even that couldn't bring this one up a star. What's the problem, you may be asking. Here's a list:
-The story begins with a mother and father coming home late one Saturday night and informing the elder of their two young sons that they basically don't want to see the kids' faces until 9:45 in the morning. 9:45. Anyone who has children is already finding this story incredible.
-The son gets up early, makes a mess, and takes the Lord's name in vain a few times. Why? Because there's no one around to tell him not to say God. He then wakes up his younger brother to continue the mess making.
-The older brother kicks the younger one and fights with him while they continue their unsupervised morning (several hours, based on the clock in the pictures).
-Occasionally, the negligent parents take a moment to yell through the bedroom door that they are going to come out and spank the boys.
-At 9:45 the parents finally emerge and suddenly life is peachy.
I think I've only given such a low rating to one other picture book, but I really and truly can find no endearing qualities in this one. Yes, the text copyright is 1968, but that's no excuse to try to turn poor parenting into comedy. I recommend Sunday Morning to no one. Straight back to the library.
-The story begins with a mother and father coming home late one Saturday night and informing the elder of their two young sons that they basically don't want to see the kids' faces until 9:45 in the morning. 9:45. Anyone who has children is already finding this story incredible.
-The son gets up early, makes a mess, and takes the Lord's name in vain a few times. Why? Because there's no one around to tell him not to say God. He then wakes up his younger brother to continue the mess making.
-The older brother kicks the younger one and fights with him while they continue their unsupervised morning (several hours, based on the clock in the pictures).
-Occasionally, the negligent parents take a moment to yell through the bedroom door that they are going to come out and spank the boys.
-At 9:45 the parents finally emerge and suddenly life is peachy.
I think I've only given such a low rating to one other picture book, but I really and truly can find no endearing qualities in this one. Yes, the text copyright is 1968, but that's no excuse to try to turn poor parenting into comedy. I recommend Sunday Morning to no one. Straight back to the library.
May 21, 2011
There wasn't anything special about this book. Sure, it was silly and we can all relate, but is this even sort of memorable? Also, I wasn't a fan of the use of God in this book. I will be teaching my children not to use the name of God in vain so this will contradict that.
September 13, 2016
Total walk down memory lane.
February 22, 2015
The parents come home very late Saturday night. They tell the older boy (unnamed) not to wake up the parents in the morning until 9:45am. The problem is the boy cannot stay in bed. He tries, but finally gets up at 7:00 am. He is bored. So he wakes up his brother Nick. This makes Nick cry and the parents begin to get upset. The boys make lots of messes and noises over the next two hours. Every so often the parents yell through the wall, "Some boys are going to get spanked." They boys play on until the parents finally get upset enough to come downstairs. But they see that it is now 9:45 am and all is well.
The illustrations are done in black shadow with blue and white. They are dark which makes it difficult to see exactly what is going on.
I love Judith Viorst, but I was disturbed by several aspects of this story. First is when the parents come home it appears no one is watching the children. They are supposed to be in bed, but the older boy had been obviously running around before the parents come in the door.
Next is the fact that the older boy takes the name of God in vain several times because, "there are no grown-ups around to tell me don't say God."
I cannot fault the children's poor behavior because they are unsupervised and have energy they need to use. But the parents keep threatening through the wall to spank the children which is a very ineffective tactic. And when the parents do get up, instead of expecting the children to clean up their messes, they all snuggle on the couch like the happiest of families.
This story sets bad examples for children and shows some very poor parenting. I don't find the boys' antics to be funny. I cannot recommend this story for any audience.
The illustrations are done in black shadow with blue and white. They are dark which makes it difficult to see exactly what is going on.
I love Judith Viorst, but I was disturbed by several aspects of this story. First is when the parents come home it appears no one is watching the children. They are supposed to be in bed, but the older boy had been obviously running around before the parents come in the door.
Next is the fact that the older boy takes the name of God in vain several times because, "there are no grown-ups around to tell me don't say God."
I cannot fault the children's poor behavior because they are unsupervised and have energy they need to use. But the parents keep threatening through the wall to spank the children which is a very ineffective tactic. And when the parents do get up, instead of expecting the children to clean up their messes, they all snuggle on the couch like the happiest of families.
This story sets bad examples for children and shows some very poor parenting. I don't find the boys' antics to be funny. I cannot recommend this story for any audience.
April 23, 2013
One word: illustrations! The art in this shadow-world storybook is astounding. Despite having less detail available for facial expressions because the characters are silhouettes with eyes until the last page, the extraordinary movement and personality embedded in these characters is so much more compelling than just the narration itself. Two little boys, big brother Anthony and little brother Nick, are instructed to let their parents sleep until 9:45 AM Sunday morning. But this is a tall order for a pair of imaginative boys who can't stay still. So much is going on that the boys don't understand as the omnipresent clock ticks away their adventurous morning. The boys behave badly. Hurt each other mildly. Misbehave in realistic ways because no one is there to see them. Get threatened by their parents several times. Make huge, amazing messes--but that's not a blanket, that's water! We're on a boat! I absolutely loved how the peeks into different rooms of the house were made possible by letting us peer in the cross sections, and how full-bodied and animated the children's expressions were (the drawings depict them using their whole bodies to express themselves), and how deliberately attention-seeking little Anthony is. I love that you could really imagine being in that room with those kids. The last page when the lights turned on was the only one that disappointed me. I kind of liked not knowing what the family's features looked like.
January 22, 2016
This was one of my absolute favorite books from my childhood. My mother would read this to me many times as a child. It has such fun antics the two brothers get into; they are just rowdy children who can't sleep at night and seek for something to do. I sometimes felt like the two boys because I would try to find something fun to do in my room at night, but have to be quiet. I loved how mom read the story to me: she used different voices for the characters and would point out all the different troubles the boys got into. The art style was also very engaging as a child because the deep blues and black in the artwork show the night time theme really nicely. I want to read this to my children whenever I become a parent.
June 13, 2015
Judith Viorst is a hero in our house...what other author gets boys in a timeless manner? This story has mine in stitches every time...and talk of spankings and boys pretending to have guns might be scandalous today, but I can't get all up on arms about it, because this is what would happen if my husband and I both got to sleep in (not the spankings part, just the mischief)...someday, just for fun, i will do just that and set up some video cameras to catch the chaos in action.
August 28, 2013
Couldn't stand the illustrations, and the story has no real message for kids, but there is an underlying message for parents to think on. We may wish our kids to relax a bit on a weekend morning so we could sleep in, but a kids mind is in overdrive at this age and the amount of play, projects, games, and etc that they can begin and move on to is huge. So when we say give us an extra 30, 60, or more minutes think back to what were really asking them.
August 23, 2009
Two boys are told very firmly not to wake their parents up before 9:45 AM. So how much of a mess can they make before then? A lot! Illustrated in silhouttes.
I love how this book shows rather than tells just what’s going on, though even if you hear just the text, you still know exactly what’s happening and all its implications. Excellent sense of timing in the flow of the text.
I love how this book shows rather than tells just what’s going on, though even if you hear just the text, you still know exactly what’s happening and all its implications. Excellent sense of timing in the flow of the text.
September 21, 2012
What do you do on Sunday morning?
Why do we capitalize "Sunday"?
What do you like to do with your brother or sister?
Can you believe the mess they must have made?
An introduction to writing in the Personal Narrative category. What sort of stories can we tell? Is there more than one perspective that this story could have been told in? (little brother, mom, dad)
Why do we capitalize "Sunday"?
What do you like to do with your brother or sister?
Can you believe the mess they must have made?
An introduction to writing in the Personal Narrative category. What sort of stories can we tell? Is there more than one perspective that this story could have been told in? (little brother, mom, dad)
October 22, 2016
I was also bummed to see on the last page that the family was white, very white. Not that the shadows meant they should be black, but more that this family could be just about any family. Two moms, two dads, mixed race, whatever. The pictures definitely spoke louder than the words, but maybe I just expected more from the author of "Alexander and the terrible horrible no good very bad day."
August 11, 2007
This is a children's book that is so not for children. This book will make any adult laugh and remember almost getting their ass beat as a child-love it!!
September 12, 2011
the art is fantastic!
January 6, 2013
most delightful little book; irresistible illustrations.
September 18, 2015
No big deal. Dumb ending. The illustrations are nice, on the whole.
October 29, 2007
The art is magical.
February 11, 2008
This is what Sunday mornings are all about.
August 7, 2015
Two boys create a lot of havoc while waiting for their parents to get up on Sunday morning.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews