The Leaving Morning

by Angela Johnson, David Woman (Illustrator)

A young African American boy and his sister experience moving day, saying goodbye to shopkeepers, friends, and cousins, watching men load the truck, giving a last glance around their rooms, and driving off to their new home

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Cultural

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Angela Johnson is the author of the Coretta Scott King Honor picture book When I Am Old with You; as well as A Sweet Smell of Roses, illustrated by Eric Velasquez; Just Like Josh Gibson, illustrated by Beth Peck; and I Dream of Trains, which was also illustrated by Loren Long. She has won three Coretta Scott King Awards, one each for her novels Heaven, Toning the Sweep, and The First Part Last. In recognition of her outstanding talent, Angela was named a 2003 MacArthur Fellow. She lives in Kent, Ohio.

Reviews

[Rosana Olivas]

The Leaving Morning is a children’s book about a family moving from their home. The narrator details the processes of moving such as packing and saying goodbye to everyone they know. The family takes time to do everything they love in the neighborhood one last time such as leaving morning breath on the window and visiting their favorite breakfast spot. The parents make sure to reassure their children throughout the moving process and make it a positive experience. This book connects to life events as most children move homes at some point throughout their childhood. This book can help normalize the moving process as it details what to do in preparation for moving as well as what children can expect. The reading “The All-White World of Children’s Books” focuses on how in the 1960s, all children’s literature featured primarily white characters. If there were black characters, they were represented in an unfavorable light. The Leaving Morning shows a healthy black family in which the parents are loving, good parents to their children. It shows black families in a favorable light through the happy smiles radiating from the children throughout the book, even while going through what can be a sad event for many children.

[Eleanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture book is about a pair of inner-city siblings who are preparing to move far away to somewhere unfamiliar. Though the book was written in the 90s, the fashion depicted in the illustrations has come back in style so it probably wouldn’t seem out of place today. Throughout the book, we are able to watch the brother and sister prepare to leave the home and multi-cultural neighborhood they’ve grown up in—they say goodbye to the grocer, the people in their building, their friends, and their extended family. They do small things to make the transition process easier, like envisioning their new life with their parents, leaving kisses on the window panes of their apartment, and saying goodbye to their home itself. This book would be an excellent read for a family in transition, as the words and illustrations are simple enough for early elementary readers to understand, but there’s also room for middle grade students to ponder the deeper implications of uprooting your life and moving somewhere new.

[Ma Jiani（Marjorie） · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story took place on a sweet and foggy morning and was started by a young African American boy who helped his family move from a city apartment to a new home. Although the story is narrative focuses on the difficulties of leaving his neighbors and leaving friends and family. The boy's changing emotions in the article are properly portrayed in Soman's watercolor illustrations. This actually shows that this sister looks full of eagerness and try-out, and her parents seem to be full of happiness and self-confidence. In addition, the little boy doesn't want to leave all of her family and friends but must say goodbye because they are leaving the next morning. I think this is a very familiar type of story that a lot of the Children can relate to as well as enjoy the story. This book is great to use when teaching Students use story plots to depict narrative sentences.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended to use as an author study for our narrative writing unit. It was gorgeously written about a child's moving day and all the things done to prepare for the move. Filled with sights and sounds. A perfect way to get students engaged on writing about a memory of their own.

[Sharla Bazen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: Children's Picture Book (MAISA Mentor Text)

Unique feature: This would be a good book for taking about Thought or Feeling.

Grade level suggested: K-4 (really I think this would be a good book for any lower El. classroom if used in the right context).

[Cathy Sheetz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reader experiences moving through the author's eyes as the family says goodbye to neighbors and community.

Great book for discussing moving for K-3rd. This book works well for writers workshops that focus on small moments for 3rd through 5th grade.

[Rebecca Caufman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little boy talks about what he did to prepare to leave his apartment.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story about moving to a new place.

[Sherry Scheline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful story for families that have to move. Beautiful pictures

[Sean Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the 70's era illustrations depicting inner city life and the community.

[Kimberly Wright Oelkers · Rating 5 out of 5]

An older book still relevant and beautiful.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a classic that I have read for many years.

[L.M.]

Cute but doesn’t dig very deep and only covers the actual leaving, not moving or getting to a new place.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ages 4 and up. The universal childhood experience of moving to a new place told through the eyes of two Black children accompanied by beautiful illustrations.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Title: The Leaving Morning by Angela Johnson

Short Description of the Book: In the book, The Leaving Morning, a sister and brother share their experiences of moving. The siblings describe the morning of their move, telling friends and family goodbye and watching movers pack boxes into a moving truck.

Focus: Small Moments – Johnson’s entire book focuses around all the events of one morning. This gives students an excellent example of how to zoom in on one moment rather than telling about several different events.

Teach: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.3 Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.

1) Begin by introducing the book to the students and explaining that today our focus will be to understand what small moments are.
2) Read the book to students, thinking aloud about the details Johnson uses to describe the morning.
3) Explain to students that when we write, we can focus on one small moment, rather than telling about a whole experience. In the book we just read, the family probably had many more experiences of moving, like finding out they were moving, all the packing they had done, and unpacking after they had done. Rather than tell us about all those events, our author chose to focus on one part of the moving experience, the morning of the move.
5) Thinking about the example from the text, have students brainstorm their own small moments with a partner.
6) As a group, create a small moment ideas anchor chart.

Expected Outcomes:
Students will be able to brainstorm a list of small moments to write about. Students will be able to choose one small moment to describe rather than writing about an entire experience.

[Lauren Mulholland · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a boy getting ready to move to a new home. The African American characters may be relatable for students in diverse schools, and the city setting may be familiar to urban students. The main character says goodbye to everyone in his neighborhood to get ready to move. This book would be great to read to students who are preparing to move, just moved, or know that a classmate is moving. This book could be better if it included more about the main character's feelings about the move. However, the teacher reading this book could facilitate conversation about how the character may be feeling--as the character may have a variety of feelings. Students could talk about how they think the character may be feeling, why he is feeling that way, and what he can do to show or express those feelings.

[Hanna Mammo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cute book that I enjoyed reading. In the story a little girl and her family are moving from their small apartment where she has spent her whole life into a bigger house further away. The little girl doesn't want to leave all of her family and friends but must say goodbye because they are leaving the next morning. I think this is a very familiar type of story that a lot of the children can relate to as well as enjoy the story. This book is great to use when teaching reading to smaller children(pre-k to first grade) because the sentences are short and there is a lot of repetition.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another book you could read to a student who may be moving. I would recommend this book to first grade or second grade. It looks like it takes place in New York City, so students living in this area may not have the schema for all the text used in the book. However, they could probably still relate to the main idea.

[Wilma · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a multicultural, beautiful watercolored book that children and adults alike can identify with. The emotions one feels with moving away to a new place can be scary to children and this book can help them deal with it better. Good heartfelt story.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone experiences leaving something at sometime or another. This is a real issue for many people especially students. The message I got from this book is that, "Everything works out fine." Kids need to know that.

[Kira Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice book for a child who is moving to read. They can connect to what the character in the book is dealing with. The illustrations are beautiful and I think a watercolors art unit would be great for this book.

[Jennie Park]

This is a book I would use to read when there is a new student in my class, or if a student is moving away. It's a sweet story to read to comfort students about being scared of change. It is a easy read and appropriate for all levels in elementary school.

[Shaley Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this would be a wonderful book to use on the first day of school. The children are leaving their old classroom and coming to a new classroom. It is sad to change but it is better in the long run.

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

another special book of showing, not telling. they love it.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn't as good as I'd hoped, however, it taught that change isn't always a bad thing.

[Sonia Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Street cleaning machine!!!