The Grumpy Morning

by Pamela Duncan Edwards

With bright watercolor illustrations, this whimsical rhyming story is perfect for reading aloud and imparts a subtle lesson about the difference between nocturnal and diurnal animals.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, School, Storytime, Fiction, Humor

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Pamela Duncan Edwards is a British-born children's author living in the United States. She has written over forty picture books published in both the U.S. and the U.K., known for their playful language and engaging storytelling.

Reviews

[Cheryl]

Judging by the condition this library book is in, it's popular. My kids & I probably would have liked it a lot when they were little. Now, to me, it just doesn't seem all that special. Still, I do recommend it to those of you who like bouncy rhymes and female farmers.

[Anne Fox]

This is another children's book I picked up for inclusion in a children's library I'm putting together for an organization I'm involved with.

In this book, a poem tells of how the animals on a farm begin to voice their needs, starting with the cow mooing that it needs to be milked. It progresses to the dog, the goat, the pig, the rabbit, the horse, the duck, the cat, the hen, and finally to the farmer, who realizes it's late and time to do the farm chores.

As a children's book, it's a fun introduction to the different animals and the sounds they make, as well as some of the care they need. It has engaging illustrations that will keep a child interested in the story.

[Kay]

When the farm animals don't get fed one morning they go looking for the farmer. They find her still in bed. I really like that the farmer is a lady, nice to see the author has created an equality aspect to this story. They animals all get fed and the owl finally gets to go to bed for the day.

Teaching application- This could easily be turned into an interactive story by using plastic farm animals or flannelboard pieces. The story also has delightful rhyming aspect that kids can practice.

[Catie]

This was a great book for my pre-schoolers. I read this book as our read aloud and they loved it. I love how the author goes through every animal on the farm and how they bother each animal. It is like a domino effect while he is rhyming on each page. Then towards the end of the book there is humor added by the owl. Overall, I recommend this book for kids!

[Set]

I guess this is a good book to read to children who live in a farm. It will teach them the responsibilities of an animal barn/farm in the morning for a farmer... The farmhand is a single woman with a whole load of tedious work.

[Savannah H]

Picture Book
Uses rhyme; cute story with barnyard animals

[Emma]

I still remember this from when my mom used to read it to me as a child.

[Debra]

A very cute older story of a group of farm animals who wake before their owner and demand breakfast.

[Beth (FebruaryFilly)]

Farm animals

[Amber]

Toddler and preschool
Rhyming; farm

[Lindsey Duncan]

This book is a another great book about farm animals. It would be a great way fro students to learn about animals and what they eat.

[Deserae]

This is fun way to teach children about rhyming words and responsibility, if you have made a commitment to do something it is important that you keep that commitment because you want to be considered a dependable person. Growing up I knew that if I wanted an education I would get up at 4 a.m and make my 5 o'clock bus to get to school on time and that was a commitment I made to myself and my educators and I also valued that commitment. School has been wonderful for me and I can share my experiences with my students and hopefully they will make this commitment too.

[Sabrina Henry]

This book is about some animals being noisy and grumpy in the morning as they complain about their needs, etc. As their master got up to feed them and calm them down, everything changed and they were not complaining anymore.
The story was humorous and the storyline is beautiful and easy to be understood. This picture book has bright, colorful and funny illustrations. This book can be used to encourage children to dramatize or make the sounds of the animals.

[Sandra Strange]

This picture book is aimed at the younger readers (1-3) with barnyard creatures making their characteristic noises to communicate their grumpiness because they needed to be fed. Then the female farmer is awakened by a friendly moth, feeds each animal, and the grumpiness is over. It's cute, with fun, clear illustrations, so the very youngest can identify each animal and review their characteristic sounds--twice.

[Jade Detzer]

The Grumpy Morning is a great book to use for learning animal sounds as well as rhyming. The animals are all grumpy because their farmer has not gotten out of bed to feed them. This book can also be used to teach about responsibility and how to be a dependable person as well as how breakfast is a vital part of the morning and it is important to eat something when you wake up in order to start your day off in a great mood!

[Angela Hutchinson]

In this book, the farmer over sleeps and the animals are going crazy because their food has not been distributed, as it normally is. All ten animals begin to panic and wake the farmer lady. So, she rises and feed the animals and it becomes a good day. This would be a great mentor text to use with younger students to teach the concept of rhyming. It would also be a good book for beginning readers.

[Monalisa Johnson-brown]

This is about a farmer who overslept and her animals were upset and were not having a good morning. The cows wanted to go for there walk, the dog wanted breakfast and the goats wanted to eat oats. The animals decided to pay her a visit to wake her up. She got up and pretended like she did not oversleep and tend to her animals normally.

[Kelly Thevenot]

The Grumpy Morning is a cute children's book about animals on the farm. The animals are grumpy because their farm owner has not got out of bed yet to feed them and they are hungry. This would be a good way to teach children that if you skip breakfast it can make you grumpy and your brains will not work to learn anything. The animals are finally happy after she feeds them.

[Christy]

A good book for kindergarten and first graders. This is the story about how all of the animals on the farm wake up one morning and how they all have something to say; They want to be fed!!! The farmer overslept and every animal is grumpy!

[Lori Smith]

Great book for introducing farm animals and the sounds they make. This book is also a fun way to discuss rhyme. The farm animals are grumpy because they have not been fed breakfast. This could be used to discuss breakfast being the most important meal of the day.

[Colleen]

This book has a short read aloud story with lots of animals sounds and is one of the only books I can find where the animals are a mix of genders. At the end the farmer is female, defying our strongly set stereotype!

[Lindsay]

All the farm animals wake up on the proverbial wrong side of the bed. Simple rhyming couplets and animal sounds make this a versatile book. The final pages switch from "them" to "us" which is a bit confusing. Otherwise, another great storytime title found on the farm.

[Sara Brand]

this is a good book about how your mood can affect others

[Christine Levinge]

This book is a fun farm animal story. This would be a great interactive read, as the teacher can prompt the children to participate in all of the different animal sounds.

[Ahmad Worthy]

I like this book because it introduced different farm animals to the children. It also used rhyming words to keep the children interest.

[Katie Beck]

I enjoyed reading this book. I think that it is a great book to teach children about farm animals and about ryhming words.

[Alyce Dougan]

The Grumpy Morning is about morning time on the farm and the animals are all ready to be fed. The book was easy to follow and rhymed. Young children will like it.

[Crissy]

The illustrations were cute, I liked the rhyme and rythm of the writing, but the title should have been the HUNGRY morning, not the grumoy morning.

[Kimberly Maughon]

Rhyming words. I could use this book in the classroom for children to identify words that rhyme. Use it as part of a lesson plan.

[Megan Rowland]

The book is engaging becuse it rhymes and is about animals. I would be able to read this book in a language arts lesson because of the rhyming.