''One Morning in Maine'' is a

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

Robert McCloskey John Robert McCloskey (September 15, 1914 – June 30, 2003) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He both wrote and illustrated eight picture books, and won two Caldecott Medals from the American Library Association for th ...

set in

Brooksville, Maine Brooksville is a town on Penobscot Bay in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 935. It contains the villages of North Brooksville, South Brooksville (on Buck's Harbor), West Brooksville, Brooksvill ...

. It was awarded the

Caldecott Honor The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

in 1953. It features Robert McCloskey, his wife Peggy, and their two real-life daughters, Sarah ("Sal"), who had previously had appeared in ''

Blueberries for Sal ''Blueberries for Sal'' is a classic children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey in 1948. The story is set in Maine, following the adventures of a young girl named Sal and a bear cub named Little Bear as they both go blueb ...

'', and Jane. McCloskey was a professional illustrator and drew his wife's and daughters' facial features to accurately show what they really looked like. McCloskey also cleverly depicts the adventurously-rambunctious little Jane in his drawings of their mainland adventures; on every page, the robust tousle-headed toddler is usually shown to be exploringly bustling about independently of the two others in her group, engaged in "typical young tomboy" activities such as perching high up on a work-table, climbing on a stack of tires, snuggling with a furry puppy who has wandered into the garage, etc.

Plot

The book gives a small slice of everyday life in Maine, where McCloskey and his family moved following World War II. The story begins with McCloskey's older daughter Sal's good-naturedly assisting her little sister Jane during their morning routine of dressing and tooth-brushing. Sal (also the heroine of McCloskey's ''

''; according to a 2003 interview with Jane, their father wrote this first book "so that Sal could have a little storybook that was entirely about her"; she was feeling a bit jealous when Jane was born since she now was no longer the sole focus of Daddy and Mommy's attention) finds she has a loose tooth, and worries that she won't be able to go sailing with her father. Quickly reassured by her mother, Sal then goes digging for clams with her father, and the tooth falls out and disappears in the mud, preventing Sal from using the tooth to make a wish. So instead, Sal makes her wish while holding a seagull's feather, which she views as a bird's equivalent of a tooth since they are both body parts that fall out as new ones grow in. Sal and Jane then accompany their father in his skiff to the mainland; McCloskey is obliged to row the whole way because the outboard motor has a bad spark plug. After the motor is serviced by the jovial mechanic at the local boat-shop, Sal gives the old plug to Jane to make a wish of her own; the girls reason that the plug is like the motor's tooth since it is a part that must be removed and replaced occasionally. Eventually, after doing his shopping, McCloskey treats each of his daughters to what they had both wished for: a big cone of ice cream. The story ends with the happy trio's roaring back towards home in their skiff under motor-power this time cleaving a great foaming wake in the calm water of the bay.

Location

The action in the book takes place at the McCloskeys' summer home o
Scott Island
off of

Little Deer Isle Little Deer Isle is an island in Penobscot Bay, lying just north of the town (and island) of Deer Isle, of which it is a part. The island is served by Maine State Route 15 via the Deer Isle Bridge. The north end of the island is called Eggemoggin ...

, and in South Brooksville o
Bucks Harbor
where the buildings housing the garage and store depicted in the book can still be seen.

References

{{Reflist 1952 children's books American picture books Caldecott Honor-winning works Maine in fiction Viking Press books Books by Robert McCloskey