Kapow! Good Morning, Superman by Michael Dahl

A NEW DAY BEGINS.

THE SUN RISES. POWERFUL CONDENSED RAYS STREAM DOWN.

DUTY CALLS!

Just as The Man of Steel pulls up his tights and ties on his cape, our boy springs from his bed to face the day. The crayoned drawing of Superman on his wall inspires him to rise to the occasion. He pulls on his uniform and screws up his courage to face his first challenge, courageously facing the fierce taste of his kryptonite-green toothpaste. Patooieee! Just as Clark Kent's hurricane breath stops the bad guys, our kid spits and rinses and faces the next task with minty-fresh zest!

It's up, up, and away, and into the day, and our young hero at last heads out the door, hoisting his heavy backpack and bulky lunchbox as if they were feathers, and flies outto leap with a single bound onto the bus, just as his hero soars away to dominate his day.

Waking up is hard to do, but in this companion book to his Bedtime for Batman (DC Super Heroes), (read review here) Michael Dahl's newest DC Super Hero saga, Good Morning, Superman! (DC Super Heroes) Capstone Press, 2017) takes on the terrors of the morning rush with all the courage of that caped crusader in Metropolis. Summoning a superhero to get a youngster moving in the morning isn't a bad idea, and Dahl's narration gets a lot of its KAPOW! from the well-crafted and designed illustrations of artist Omar Lazano, who uses the dramatic style of DC heroes to good affect, switching off comic panels with full-bleed illustrations in varied page layouts with heroic, pixel-powered colors as his Superman shows the way to take charge of his day. "An excellent resource for parents attempting to wrangle their little superheroes' powers for good," suggests Kirkus Reviews.

The Way to Start the Day! Good Morning, Yoga by Mariam Gates

My first breath is long and deep.

I twist and turn to shake off sleep.

Getting up and getting going is hard to do--for most of us. Mariam Gates has a new way to start the day with youngsters, a short and sweet yoga set that begins and ends with deep breathing.

In between, there are some classic yoga poses, with invitations to imagine being in the breeze on a beach, being a flower reaching for the sun, a slash of lightning, and for fun, even a downward doggie ready to bound away and play.

In their Good Morning Yoga: A Pose-by-Pose Wake Up Story (Sounds True, 2016), Sarah Jane Hinder's inventive and playful illustrations give kids a fun-filled demonstration of ten poses that use all parts of the body, and Gates' rhyming narration provides prompts that will make them want to get into the game with a parent. Appended for reference is a rundown of each pose with a thumbnail illustration. This one pairs well with its partner, Gates' and Hinder's companion book, Good Night Yoga: A Pose-by-Pose Bedtime Story, which helps wind down those wound-up youngsters before bedtime.

Early Bird! Good Morning to ME! by Lita Judge

There is a cottage, a cozy cottage, where everyone is sleeping, everyone but ONE....

"GOOD MORNING TO ME!" SQUEALED BEATRIX.

Beatrix the parrot is an early riser, a very early riser. She's wide awake! She knows she's supposed to use her quiet, inside voice while others are still sleeping, but she just can't help herself!

Her patient but drowsy friend Mouse has no desire to salute the rising sun, but he bestirs himself to try to keep Beatrix from waking up the whole household. But this bird can't stop talking.

"I LOVE MOUSE! TODAY I WILL BE A GOOD BIRDIE!

OH, LOOK! THERE'S KITTY. I LOVE KITTY!"

Kitty is a grouchy Siamese who clearly does NOT love Beatrix or enthusiastic early awakenings. With eyes still half closed, her hackles are rising and her claws are already flexing.

But Beatrix is oblivious. Scatting the Jaws theme, she stalks Kitty.

"DAH-DUH, DAH-DUH, DAH-DUH....."

Beatrix moves in, and Kitty grabs with her clawed front feet. Suddenly the tables are turned.

"uh... MOUSE!!! (HELP!)

Mouse grabs a fork and gives Kitty a poke, and Beatrix escapes away to her perch. Kitty sits below, thumping her tail angrily on the floor. But to Beatrix it's all a good game of tag.

Suddenly she remembers that she hasn't greeted Goldfish yet. Enthusiastically, she sticks her head under the water into Goldfish's bowl. Bad move.

Beatrix falls in. Blub! It's crowded in there! Mouse has to run and wake Gracie the Bassett hound to pull Beatrix out of the goldfish bowl. It's a rough wake-up for Gracie, but, unfazed, Beatrix flaps her wet wings with glee.

"NOW WHAT CAN WE PLAY?"

Beatrix is not a good birdie, but her joie de vive is infectious in Lita Judge's giggle-fest-filled Good Morning to Me! (Atheneum Books, 2015). Judge's animal illustrations are joyfully comic, set in both framed vignettes on the page or spreading ebulliently across double-page spreads as full of life as her vibrant feathered heroine. This is a book that would be hilarious if you couldn't read a word of the text, with Beatrix and her buddies' facial expressions telling the whole story. As Publishers Weekly adds in their starred review, "... a lovely book... Judge uses aqueous, shimmering blues for her environments so that the furs, feathers, and marvelous expressions of her cast pop."

This is terrific picture book fun even if you, too, are not an early bird, one which will also resonate with night-owl parents who have a nest full of early risers. It's a book worthy of pairing with that classic tale of sleep disturbed, Audrey and Don Wood's The Napping House.