BLANKIES

A hymn of praise to a variety of blankies and security objects.

“Blankie big, / Blankie tiny, // Blankie knitty, knotty, / shiny!” The rhymed verse continues in this vein, sharing a line or half a line per page. Thompson’s quick-study sketches are droll and funny, capturing the humor of blankies lost, found and at play. The facts that she calls all loveys (including stuffed animals) blankies and that a stuffed bear somehow falls out of an airplane in flight may confuse some adult readers, but little ones will connect with the scenes immediately. The diversity of the toddlers depicted in these scenes is refreshing and reminiscent of Helen Oxenbury’s works; the child who is wearing a medical eye patch with a zebra pattern that happens to match his stuffed zebra’s coat is a particularly welcome sight. It is also rare and pleasing to find a book about blankies that does not try to make the child leave it behind.

The cozy experience of love within these pages is palpable.