Grasshopper on the Road by Arnold Lobel has been my son’s favorite book for a few years now. I’m thankful for that because it’s a book I like to read again and again.
It even inspired the name of this website. Here’s why.
A hero’s journey
One morning, Grasshopper decides to set out on a journey, to see what he sees.
Along the way, he meets all kinds of rigid insect characters. He interacts with each of them for the length of a story, and then keeps on moving on.
In the first story, “The Club,” Grasshopper comes upon a group of beetles who form the We Love Morning Club.
They hold up signs that say “MORNING IS BEST” and “MAKE MINE MORNING.”
When Grasshopper agrees that he loves morning, they heartily welcome him into the club and give him a sign: “MORNING IS TOPS.”
“When does the clover sparkle with dew?” asked a beetle.
“In the morning!” cried all the other beetles.
“When is the sunshine yellow and new?” asked the beetle.
“In the morning!” cried all the other beetles.
They turned somersaults and stood on their heads.
They danced and sang.
“M-O-R-N-I-N-G spells morning!”
From Grasshopper on the Road by Arnold Lobel
However, when Grasshopper mentions that he likes afternoon too and night as well, the beetles get pretty testy and kick him out of their club.
Oh well. Grasshopper goes on down the road to the next adventure.
Morning is tops (but no pressure)
I just love this story, including the silly dogmatism of those beetles, and the enthusiastic alliteration of their Make Mine Morning sign!
However, this website is about morning appreciation, not pressure to be a morning person. So I was a little ambivalent about naming this site after a group of inflexible beetles.
But life isn’t always about being completely logical.
And if I had to pick only one temporally based club to join, it would be the We Love Morning Club.
Even though I agree that “night is very nice.”
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