Few reads offer a more enchanting bedtime experience.
A snoozy tot embarks on a soothing journey to dreamland.
As bedtime arrives, a celestial fairy godmother—apparently created from stardust and boasting enviable fashion—ferries a child into dream-filled sleep. As the pajama-clad protagonist descends deeper into slumber, the country fairs and carousels that the little one conjures give way to more fantastical environs. The child is joined by a merry band of dreamers; together, they ride giant fireflies and rest atop gargantuan lily pads. The text—more poem than plot—offers a rhyming, rhythmic lullaby, spare enough to encourage rumination on the delights it describes. Stunning mixed-media illustrations invoke occasionally familiar imagery; young art lovers may recognize homages to Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night and Claude Monet’s Water Lilies. Lush with verdant greens and bright with lemony yellows, the palette subverts the spate of blues and silvers traditionally associated with nighttime-themed fare, and both dreamer and setting emanate a warm glow from within. This effect proves more ethereal than eerie, evoking a serene nostalgia that complements the text’s tone. The voyage wends from pleasantly pedestrian to fantastical and transcendent; this is the kind of restorative dream one hopes to have. Both dreamer and fairy godmother present Black, while supporting characters vary in skin tone.
Few reads offer a more enchanting bedtime experience. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781774883662
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...
A sweetened, condensed version of the best-selling picture book, The Kissing Hand.
As in the original, Chester Raccoon is nervous about attending Owl’s night school (raccoons are nocturnal). His mom kisses him on the paw and reminds him, “With a Kissing Hand… / We’ll never be apart.” The text boils the story down to its key elements, causing this version to feel rushed. Gone is the list of fun things Chester will get to do at school. Fans of the original may be disappointed that this board edition uses a different illustrator. Gibson’s work is equally sentimental, but her renderings are stiff and flat in comparison to the watercolors of Harper and Leak. Very young readers will probably not understand that Owl’s tree, filled with opossums, a squirrel, a chipmunk and others, is supposed to be a school.
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original shouldn’t look to this version as replacement for their page-worn copies. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-933718-77-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance.
A boy with wings learns to be himself and inspires others like him to soar, too.
Norman, a “perfectly normal” boy, never dreamed he might grow wings. Afraid of what his parents might say, he hides his new wings under a big, stuffy coat. Although the coat hides his wings from the world, Norman no longer finds joy in bathtime, playing at the park, swimming, or birthday parties. With the gentle encouragement of his parents, who see his sadness, Norman finds the courage to come out of hiding and soar. Percival (The Magic Looking Glass, 2017, etc.) depicts Norman with light skin and dark hair. Black-and-white illustrations show his father with dark skin and hair and his mother as white. The contrast of black-and-white illustrations with splashes of bright color complements the story’s theme. While Norman tries to be “normal,” the world and people around him look black and gray, but his coat stands out in yellow. Birds pop from the page in pink, green, and blue, emphasizing the joy and beauty of flying free. The final spread, full of bright color and multiracial children in flight, sets the mood for Norman’s realization on the last page that there is “no such thing as perfectly normal,” but he can be “perfectly Norman.”
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-785-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
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