Wake Up, Island

Wake up, little one, a soft voice beckons, the world around you is already stirring. AsWake Up, Island gently rouses the sleepy child, it summons a world of nature coming to life on a summer island in the magical North Woods. Sunlit fingers touch the shores, pine trees stretch their limbs, and lichen warms on ancient rock. Doe and fawn rise from their grass bed and pearls of dew bead a spider's finely woven web. Mallards skim the water's surface. Ravens perch and gargle greetings, chickadees calldee, dee, dee, and a heron swoops—minnows flee! The moose and her calf wade, munching on plants. The red squirrel chatters. The black bear lazily scratches her back against a tree.

Conjuring the morning life around a cabin fragrant with berry pancakes, this timeless book wakens the child in every reader to the wonders of nature that greet every new day in the charmed world of a northern woodland island.

Mary Casanova grew up in a camp-like atmosphere on the edge of St. Paul, with parents who regularly packed the station wagon to capacity—ten kids and the family dog—and headed “up north” to a cabin. Mary is the author ofOne-Dog Canoe and thirty other books. Several of them—including Moose Tracks, Wolf Shadows, When Eagles Fall, and most recentlyFrozen—are published by the University of Minnesota Press. These books, frequently found on state reading lists across the country, have earned countless awards such as the ALA “Notable,” Parent’s Choice “Gold” Award, Booklist Editor’s Choice, and two Minnesota Book Awards. She lives with her husband and three dogs in a turn-of-the-century house in Ranier, Minnesota.

Nick Wroblewski is an artist and printmaker specializing in handmade woodcut block prints. He prints from his home studio in the Driftless region of Wisconsin. A native of Minnesota, he enjoyed reflecting on a landscape very close to his heart while illustrating this book.