The Little Mornings

What are “The Little Mornings”?

That’s the working title of the book. I always get title ideas early and it helps me focus on the big picture. It may change later, and if it does, we’ll say it refers to my writing time, okay?

“The Little Mornings” is a translation of “Las Mañanitas,” a Spanish birthday song. One of my characters is the neighborhood cake lady (provider of party cakes, no bakeries allowed), but I also thought it was a nice phrase about the passage of time or memories.

Here are the words of a short version of “Las Mañanitas” with translation:

Estas son las mañanitas que cantaba el rey David
A las muchachas bonitas se las cantamos así.
Despierta, mi bien, despierta
Mira que ya amaneció
Ya los pajaritos cantan
La luna ya se metió.

Qué linda está la mañana hoy que vengo a saludarte
Venimos todos con gusto y placer a felicitarte
Ya viene amaneciendo ya la luz del día nos dió.
Levantate de la mañana, mira que ya amaneció.

These are the little mornings than King David sang
To the pretty girls we sing them like this
Awake, my love, awake
Look, the sun has already risen
Already the little birds sing
The moon has already set.

How pretty is the morning, today that I come to greet you
We all come with gladness and pleasure to congratulate you
Already the sunrise comes, the light that the day has given us
Rise in the morning, look, the sunrise has come.