bedtime

Review: Bedtime for Monsters by Ed Vere

| Tasha

bedtime for monsters

Bedtime for Monsters by Ed Vere

Do you think that if monsters really exist that there might be a monster out there licking his lips and thinking about YOU?  And what if that monster is coming to find you?  Riding his bicycle through a dark forest on his way?  What if he is thinking about what you might taste like with ketchup as he wades through the gloopy swamp?  What if he thinks about you on toast while tiptoeing through thorns?  He’s getting closer and closer… you aren’t scared are you?  Are you?

Filled with great noises and ways to get little hearts pitter-patting, this book is an impressive read aloud.  Vere paces the book just like a traditional campfire tale, it’s the build up that makes the entire thing work along with the fact that this monster is headed for you! 

Vere’s silly artwork provides a lightening effect that will get kids giggling despite the tension of the story.  There are also softening hints throughout like the teddy bear, the bicycle with a bell, and even the pink toenails that make this monster more friendly than frightening.

Pair this one with A Dark, Dark Tale by Ruth Brown for some sinister stories that end well.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Lucy Can’t Sleep by Amy Schwartz

| Tasha

lucy cant sleep

Lucy Can’t Sleep by Amy Schwartz

Lucy is in bed, but she just can’t fall asleep.  First, she tries counting sheep and other animals, but that doesn’t work.  So she climbs out of bed, puts on a sweater, stretches and wiggles.  Then she heads out of her room to try and find her doll and bear.  There they are in a chair downstairs.  Lucy then heads to the kitchen and rummages in the fridge for a snack.  She finds chocolate pudding and strawberry shortcake.  Everything is very quiet in her house.  Outside there is a squeaky door, a porch swing, and a radio playing.  Then Lucy’s dog appears and they head inside.  But Lucy isn’t quite ready for bed yet.

There is something old-fashioned and infinitely gentle about this book.  Lucy’s parents never awaken to find her out of bed, instead she putters around on her own with no fear of the dark, of the quiet or of being alone.  There is a great feeling of safety in this book with nothing startling or alarming in the least.  It is a welcome difference from many picture books.

Schwartz’s writing is done in stanzas with repetition and rhythm making it into a poem.  This makes it a great book for toddlers.  Her art is filled with small details of Lucy’s life and home.  It is all about warmth, familiarity and the small touches that mark a family’s life. 

Safe, sweet nighttime adventures will have young listeners enjoying Lucy and her escapades out of bed.  It will also make a nice addition to bedtime stories and story times.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.

Review: Lala Salama by Patricia MacLachlan

| Tasha

lala salama

Lala Salama by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon

This poetic lullaby transports readers to Tanzania and life by the lake, Tanganyika.  It is the story of a small family with a father who heads off to work on the lake in his boat.   The mother stays on the shore with her baby, washing the baby, carrying water, working the fields, and cooking food.  The animals of Tanzania are around them in all of their exotic beauty.  Then as the sun sets, the father returns spend time with his family and eventually sails off to the lake again.  The mother and baby sit on the shore, watching the night and the lights on the boats.  This picture book is beautifully foreign, tremendously tranquil, and has a lushness that is exquisite.

MacLachlan’s writing is pure poetry.  It has a great hushed quality to it throughout the entire story of the day.  She also deftly weaves in references to Tanzania, creating such a solid sense of place that this story could never be anywhere else in the world.  She references the colors of the sky, the roofs, and the lake.  She speaks of the hard work, and at the end of each stanza comes the refrain: “Lala salama.”  There is also a deep sense of love throughout the work, wrapping all of the poetry with motherly adoration.

Zunon’s illustrations carry the same lushness as the poetry.  Done in oil paint on watercolor paper, they have a deep color palette that becomes even more deep and dazzling as night falls.  It almost shines with light at times, then seems to drink the light from the room.  Beautiful.

A lush, poetic lullaby of a picture book, this makes a great diverse addition to bedtime reading.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: My Dad Is Big and Strong, But… by Coralie Saudo

| Tasha

my dad is big and strong but

My Dad Is Big and Strong, But… by Coralie Saudo, illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo

Released May 8, 2012.

Translated from the French, this picture book takes the traditional bedtime story and turns it upside down.  Every night it’s the same thing, Dad does not want to go to bed.  The boy tries to get his father to bed nicely by using logic, but his dad just gets wilder and wilder.  The boy refuses to chase after him, instead offering a quiet story together.  That always works, and the two of them sit together in a chair: the father on the boy’s small lap.  Two stories later, and the boy finally has his father tucked into bed, but the process is not done yet.  The boy can’t head to his own bed yet or his father will ask to sleep with him.  And though his father may be big and strong, he’s also afraid of the dark.

This picture book has a wonderful charm about it that really works.  While there are other books that turn the parent/child relationship around, this one does it with a gentleness and honest joyfulness that is simply lovely.  A large part of this is the tone of the writing.  The sentence structure also works well, showing the skill of the translation.  The book plays with so many of the stereotypes of getting children to sleep that it is a delight to share with children.

Giacomo’s illustrations keep the size of the father and son as different as possible.  As you can see from the cover, the boy is quite small.  It is that size difference that adds so much humor to the illustrations, especially when the father is sitting on the boy’s lap for a story.  Another wonderful whimsical touch is the way the father heads to bed in hat and tie, rather than pajamas. 

Doing a pajama or bedtime story time?  This book would work very well there.  It is also a great pick for bedtime snuggles, though you might find yourself on your child’s lap just to try it out.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Enchanted Lion Books.

Review: Moonlight by Helen V. Griffith

| Tasha

moonlight

Moonlight by Helen V. Griffith, illustrated by Laura Dronzek

Rabbit waits for the moon to appear out of the cloudy skies, but leaves a bit too soon to see the moon emerge.  The moon shines its buttery light into space and onto the earth.  It covers the mountains, the trees, enters the water, and even enters Rabbit’s burrow, making his dreams fill with the light.  He wakes up, leaves his burrow and dances in the field with the butter of the moon on his head.  

This picture book is a poetic look at moonlight as butter, continuing the metaphor throughout the book.  While some may quibble about moonlight being as yellow and thick as butter, there are nights where the light is so yellow that it almost has a weight.  Those full moon nights are buttery and rich, filled with that light that is so very different than sunlight.  Griffith embraces the metaphor entirely, enriching moonlight with her buttery idea. 

Dronzek’s illustrations really make the metaphor work in the book.  Readers can see the butter of the light as it coats the entire forest.  They can see it coat Rabbit and his dreams, along with the flowers, grass and the entire world.  She has chosen her yellow with care, selecting a color that skims between butter and moonlight. 

A bedtime book that embraces butter, this book could be used to teach about metaphor or could be used with even very small children as a solid bedtime read.  Expect hunger for buttery pancakes in the morning!  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy. 

Review: Sweet Dreams by Rose A. Lewis

| Tasha

sweet dreams

Sweet Dreams by Rose A. Lewis, illustrated by Jen Corace

This quiet bedtime book is the perfect antidote to a busy day.  Starting with a mother carrying her daughter up the stairs, the mood is set for a sleepy bedtime.  The book moves from that child to the moon and then a sleeping baby bear, a soaking wet tiny mouse, and birds in a nest.  Butterflies sleep as moths take wing into the night.  Crickets start to sing and other nocturnal animals appear.  Then the sun returns and a quiet morning begins with animals starting to rise and eat.  The book returns to the bedroom and the child now curled in bed, her walls opening to reveal the wonder of night beyond.

Lewis’ writing is poetry, she conveys the quiet mood beautifully without the book ever becoming dull.  Instead it is filled with quiet wonder at the change that happens when darkness falls, the beauty that emerges.  She captures moments that invite cuddling up cozily, creating a dreamy glowing world.

Corace’s illustrations help with this as well.  Her art here is done with pen, ink and watercolor.  She uses delicate lines and deep colors to create this nighttime world.  They are filled with moonflowers, a gently smiling moon, and animals that are not anthropomorphized at all. 

This book is a joy to read and will be a pleasure to share with your little sleepyhead.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Abrams Books.

Review: Naamah and the Ark at Night by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

| Tasha

naamah and the ark at night

Naamah and the Ark at Night by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, illustrated by Holly Meade

Naamah is Noah’s wife.  In this picture book, she is the woman who sings the ark to sleep at night.  She sings throughout the night, through the rain, soothing the animals as they are restless.  She sings for the night itself, for the moon and for the stars.  She sings for the earth and sky, for her family in the ark.  She sings the entire ark to sleep.

Bartoletti’s Author’s Note speaks to the origin of Naamah’s name.  It also talks about the ancient Arabic structure of the poem she used in this book.  It requires using the same ending word in each couplet, preceded by a rhyming word.  This structure does not seem limiting as it reads, but it is completely unique and immediately caught my eye and ear as something different.

Meade’s art is exquisite.  Her watercolor collages have a texture and depth to them that is delightful.  They have movement and vary from bright colored tigers pacing to silhouettes against a star-filled sky.  She is very successful in showing the vastness of the water and storm around the ark, the beauty of the night sky, and the grace of Naamah as she moves around the ark.

A lovely picture book, this book reveals a little-known Biblical figure.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

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Review: A Christmas Goodnight by Nola Buck

| Tasha

christmas goodnight

A Christmas Goodnight by Nola Buck, illustrated by Sarah Jane Wright

This cozy, quiet Christmas book focuses on the nativity.  Through gently rhyming stanzas, the story of Jesus’ birth is told.  It is woven into a bedtime story where everyone in the nativity tale is told goodnight.  It includes the animals, the angels, the star, the Wise Men, and the shepherds.  Then the book moves to a modern winter scene at a farm where the good night wishes continue to the snow, the hare, and a small nativity set.  This transition is made seamlessly and very successfully, tying the modern Christmas celebration directly to the birth of Jesus. 

Buck has written a book that celebrates the story of the nativity in a way that small children will be able to easily understand.  She successfully ties in a goodnight theme as well as a link to the modern world. 

Wright’s illustrations have a jewel-colored palette and simple lines.  They are modern and yet also honor the traditional, so they work well for this subject.  The simplicity also works well for the very young audience with the washes of color and the clean lines.

A great pick for libraries or families looking for books that celebrate the reason for Christmas in a religious way.  It’s a perfect bedtime read for Christmas Eve.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Good Night, World by Willa Perlman

| Tasha

good night world

Good Night, World by Willa Perlman, illustrated by Carolyn Fisher

A small child says good night to the world around him before he goes to bed. He says goodnight to the sun and stars, planets, and the Earth.  He then says goodnight to the deserts, mountains, oceans, and jungles.  Then the book moves closer to home as he bids goodnight to animals, twisting roads, and houses.  The book returns to where it began, right in his bedroom where he curls up and sleeps.Told in rhyming couplets, this is a gentle, soothing book that is just right for bedtime.

Perlman’s verse is simple and quiet.  The circular feel of the book as it moves far away and then comes back again creates a hug of a story, where children will feel warm and secure.  Yet at the same time, it is a book with a strong arc that invites children to think beyond themselves and far out into space.  So it has a touch of adventure and an outward looking approach that is welcome.

Fisher’s art is a mix of painting and collage that is lovely.  She evokes both the larger world outside and the closer, comfort of home in a way that makes both equally beautiful and welcoming.  The illustrations are colorful, intriguing and have a sense of fun as well.  Children should watch for the red-winged blackbird in each picture too, a friendly guide throughout the story.

This book manages to be both a bold, colorful picture book and a quiet bedtime story that evokes warmth and coziness.  An ideal picture book appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Beach Lane Books.

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