Summer Sun Risin

by W. Nikola-Lisa, Don Tate (Illustrator)

An African American boy enjoys a summer day on his family's farm, milking the cows, fishing, and having fun.

Genres: Picture Books, Summer, Childrens, Family, Poetry, African American, Historical

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2002

About the author

W. Nikola-Lisa's interest in writing books for young readers began as an elementary school teacher. He is the author of numerous books, including the award-winning Bein' With You This Way (Lee & Low), Shake Dem Halloween Bones (Houghton Mifflin) and the How We Are Smart (Lee & Low), recipient of the prestigious Christopher Award. As an accomplished storyteller and musician, Mr. Nikola-Lisa enjoys sharing his writing experiences with elementary and middle school students nationwide.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a busy day down on the farm for a young boy and his family in this cheery rhyming book. I liked the colorful illustrations by Don Tate.

[Katie Quagliana]

Summer Sun Risin' by W. Nikola-Lisa has won the Parenting Reading Magic Award.
This book is perfect for pre-k to 2nd grade.
This book is about a young boy and his family on a farm. The summer sun is shining and he has to help take care of the farm. It takes us through a whole day with his family on the farm.
This book was a cute story about family and hard work in the hot summer. The pictures were beautiful and the language was poetry style.
This book would be a great lesson to teach children about poetry style writing. It also is a good lesson to bring in family backgrounds. The whole story is about this young boys family and how they work together on the farm so you could have your students talk about their family and background.

[Gabriella Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is appropriate for pre-k to 2nd grade. Early in the morning a boy helps his mother and father care for the animals and the crops. The book goes through a variety of activities and animals during the summer sun. It ends with storytime to put the child to bed and the summer sun setting. This book is is full of great full-page illustrations. The text is brief, repetitive, and simple to read. The book follows a productive/fun day on the farm. In the classroom this book would be perfect to introduce a farm or animal theme. It's also a great book for children to learn a variety of animals and associate them with the illustrations.

[Amy Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a relaxing read as I was powering through lots of other things that day.  The narrative is in verse, and is paired nicely with Tate's illustrations.  Reading this made me feel like I was with the boy, also spending time with his family and working on a farm.  And when I'd finished it was suddenly autumn and I was in college!  Who knew.  Ultimately, this book is super cute, and would be great for a farm curriculum.

Review cross-listed here!

[Dina · Rating 4 out of 5]

An older title that I found at my public library, but a good one! Don Tate is one of my favorite illustrators--and his drawings in this book are beautiful like all of his work. I really liked this book because it reminded me of days past and times on a farm that many children of today would never know about. The detailed pictures and the lyrical text make this book one I'm glad to have "found".

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summer Sun Risin (Hardcover)
by W. Nikola-Lisa
Read to a first grade class with multiple second language learners. The book showed the sequence of events for the day matched with the rising path of the sun. The book had poetic temper and many rhyming words. The teachers had the students make a personal connection to the events in their own day.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would be a great book to read in the morning and listen to the song "Summertime" by Thomas Bangalter in the evening.

The book starts in the morning with the young boy being woken by his mother while the sun rises. It follows him throughout the day with his parents, farm animals, farm workers, and, of course, the sun. It ends with him back in bed.

[Rachael Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, simple rhyming story about farm life.

[Shari (Shira) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nikola-Lisa gift of rhythmic-rhyming language is alive and well in this book. Great aloud choice.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this uncomplicated view of the joys of a farm in the middle of summer. The words and images are buoyant. Bonus: A great lesson in the parts of the day, heralded by the sun, from dawn to dusk.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well done. Nice illustrations. It shows all the family members working hard and enjoying their lives.

[Jen • The ABCs of Motherhood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this one so much!

[Ericka Clou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant picture book with rhymes about summer on a farm.

[Gail Barge]

This would be a good book to use in a farm unit for kindergarten, as well as a good book to study rhyming. I loved the simple text and the way the text and the pictures corresponded. It is almost like an I-spy book. I would use this with kids and they could find the pictures in the illustrations that correspond to the words. Overall, a sweet and simple book with fun rhyming text!

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Really liked this book with rhymes describing a young boy's day on the farm, doing all the farm work while following the summer sun's progress across the sky. Something about the rhythm of the rhymes didn't quite work for me - it felt like they needed another syllable in them. But overall liked it.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 20-month old grandson enjoyed pointing out the sun on each page of this book as I read it to him. Lively and wholesome paintings by Don Tate and story by W. Nikola-Lisa tell us about family life on a farm.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. The illustrations were intriguing. The text was simple and poetic. I would have like the text even more if I had realized it would be better if it were sung. I didn't work that out until the final refrain on the last page.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

beautiful pictures of a day at the farm. smooth rhymes.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great rhyming book for older kids. (5-8) Rhymes aren't automatic but can be figured out. They really liked it. Used with sun craft during summer reading club

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! It's very poetic and the pictures are beautiful.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 1 year old brought this one to me often while we had it from the library, so it's obviously good.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, simple rhymes and simple, bright colors make this a comforting little lullaby, focused on the sun as an African American boy and his family go about their day on a farm.

[Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad I read the author's review w suggestion that the story makes a good song. Our little one liked it and really loved the beautiful illustrations. A busy summer day on a farm.

[Hannah]

rhyming, a day on the farm, brown like me

[Tatum Edwards]

This would be a great book for kids who have families that work on farms or live on farms themselves. This could also be a great mentor text for talking about transition words.