Wake Up, Sun!

by David L. Harrison, Hans Wilhelm (Illustrator)

Illus. in full color. "A comedy about a menagerie of barnyard animals who mistakenly think the sun has forgotten to rise. Designed for children just beginning to read, the story's vocabulary is simple, yet is smoothly written. A good choice."-- Booklist.  

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Animals, 1st Grade, Fiction, Kids, School

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some very stupid farm animals have some very wrong ideas of how and why the sun rises in the morning.

I suppose if you weren't an old grump who values intellect, this could be cute. My daughter thought so when she was four.

[Danette · Rating 4 out of 5]

5/2016 For Naomi from the thrift store.
2/15/2017 Read with Naomi & Julia
2/23/2018 Read with Naomi & Julia.
7/16/18 Read with Julia.
2/14/19 Read with Julia
11/20/19 Read with Julia
8/28/24 Read with Charlotte
3/5/25 Read with Charlotte
9/9/25 Read with Charlotte and Finnian

[Elanor]

All by herself!

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every animal in the barnyard has its very own reason to wake up one morning. Imagine that!

What a wondrous world this is for early readers to enter imaginatively... thanks to learning how to read on their own.

Get ready for great enthusiasm, Goodreaders. You'll find it aplenty in illustrations and also in words. Almost as if the most banal words are being discovered and read for the first time.

Which maybe they are.

For instance, here's a sample for you, fellow Goodreaders:

WAH! WAH! WAH!"

Farmer's baby woke up

just as the sun

came over the barn.

FIVE STARS for all this enthusiasm, says this Goodreads reviewer. And FIVE STARS for the wonder of developing word literacy. I wouldn't want to go a day without using that. Would you?

[Arwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very sweet story with expressive illustrations. I'd say this was more like a step 1.5 than 2, so if you are looking for a good book to transition kids up to the next step-into-reading level this book would be a great choice.

[Colin Soder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great illustrations and an interesting story about a misconception

Really great quality and cute illustrations. Very simple and short story about animals trying to wake up the sun then thinking the baby woke it up. The animals then are very nice to the baby...

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a little easy for my reader, but it is a cute book.
Logan:it started when the dog woke up, and all the other animals woke up. They tried to wake up the sun. I liked the part about the farmers baby.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Animals wake up and think the sun is gone. The farmer's baby cries and then the sun rises, so the animals all treat her well because they think she is the one who makes the sun rise each day. An easy reader book that was okay.

[Hailey Licata · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an adorable book for youngsters! It adds the idea of object permanence (in a sense), but it also adds in the seriousness young children's brain tend to think like (the sun needing to be out for it to be morning -- no matter what!)

[Mandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very simple & cute 😊

[Lee Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another read/performed by the teacher who puts an awesome amount of effort into her storytimes. The kids loved it, and so did I. The artwork is adorable. 5/5 stars.

[Anna Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unexpected chain of events lead a group of farm animals to an unlikely destination.

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a miss for me. Charming, I guess? Or was supposed to be. A bit boring, really.

[Mellanie C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple but cute.

[D Fichera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute about animals working to wake up the sun. Seems like would be good for a child learning to read.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read to Sam.

[Gladimore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. Thought this was new but it was written in the 80's which isn't bad, however, it was just an eh story.

[Shannon Bradbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun easy reader about barn animals watching the sun rise. Super cute. Great for early readers.

[Bhaby Salazar · Rating 5 out of 5]

very nice story for toddlers

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Level 2 reading. A accidental event wakes the barnyard animals up too early and have trouble figuring it out. Sounds like a problem with some kids. Very sweet ending.

[Mollie B · Rating 4 out of 5]

eBook great for baby storytime, or any other storytime. Pair with Old MacDonald Had a Farm!

[Rosa Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very very sweet level 2 storybook for readers... whether they are independent readers or like us a non reader looking at the illustrations as I read to them. Great farm animals and farm background story. The animals all wake up a bit to early, so they each try and wake the sun up...but oh no they wake up the farmer which in turns wakes up baby! The animals later love the baby because they know she is the one that can wake the sun up. Cute book to incorporate the animal sounds, animals on a farm, and that animals can be okay for children to interact with. love this book and will be checking it out again...

[Gabriella · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story begins with a barnyard dog who wakes up before the sun because a flea bit him. He ends up waking up the other barnyard animals who go searching for the sun because they are not sure where it has gone. A funny twist is at the end when the farmer's baby ends up crying from all the animals' noises. The baby cries just as the sun comes up so the animals believe she is the only one who can wake up the sun. The book is another beginner reader friendly story that includes onomatopoeia such as "moo" and "oink" which helps a child to grow in their vocabulary and understanding of sounds.

[Andrew Reyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose this book because the cover and title looked interesting. The book started with a dog being woken by a flea bite but couldn't find the sun. The dog's bark woke up the pig and they together decided to look for the sun. They continued to wake the other farm animals which eventually woke up the farmer and his baby. This book would be perfect for beginner readers because the words were short and the pictures helped explain the story very well.

[Brittany Cullen]

This is another book that is appropriate for its ages because it is about farm animals, that many kids are interested in, and they all work together. It goes animal by animal and they try to wake up the sun but it doesn't till they wake up the Farmers baby and when the baby cries the sun comes out and then all the animals love the baby because it was the only thing that can wake up the sun. It demonstrates great teamwork and how to be nice to friends and can also be a problem solving book.

[Serina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a funny, silly story of Dog, Pig, Cow, and Chicken and their search for the sun. This story will make children laugh. The illustrations are great at displaying the emotions of the characters. This would be a good read-aloud book for preschool and kindergarten. This would be a good book for first graders who are beginning to read.

[Miss Pippi the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully silly book about waking up the sun. The animals wake in the night and they want the sun because it's morning. Right?

I've been waiting to use this title at storytime. It's one I remember reading when I was younger and thought it was funny. I think it went over well during storytime.

2015 Storytime Theme: Sunny Weather

Reviewed from a library copy.

[Stacy Parrish · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was in the second grade, I won a writing contest. The prize was a chance to meet the author of this book. I remember feeling super cool that I was meeting a REAL author. I was all, "Wow!" It helped ignite my love for books, reading, and for becoming a teacher.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple story for young readers, this book has a short narrative, colorful illustrations and an engaging plot that will encourage children to read. It's a fun little tale that would be good to read aloud at bedtime.

[Anna Johnson]

We often read this book as a sequence to Moonbeam Bear's Search for the Sun for comparison and contrast, we discuss the different types of animals in the books and where the children think the animals live.