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Item Barcode | Collection | Call Number | Status | Item Holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33607002745902 | Picture Books | DRAGONW | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
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Summary
Summary
My little one, lay down your head. It's time to doze, it's time for bed. You tell me, "I'm not sleepy now." "Just try," I say. You ask me, "How?"
In this lyrical animal ABC book, a mother tries to tuck her child in for the night by telling him about all the awake animals that are getting sleepy. From antlered Antelope to zzz-ing Zebra, this alphabet of animals becomes an exquisite celebration of language and nature, just right for lulling even the most wide-awake little ones into a cozy, soothing slumber.
Author Notes
Crescent Dragonwagon is an award-winning author of more than 50 books, over half of them picture books, including Always, Always , which received the Parents' Choice Literary Honor, and the Coretta Scott King Award-winning Half a Moon and One Whole Star , illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, which was a Reading Rainbow selection. She has also written two novels and several acclaimed cookbooks. The daughter of legendary children's book writer and editor Charlotte Zolotow, she published her first children's book at age 17 ( Rainy Day Together , Harper, 1970). She lives in Vermont. Visit her online at www.dragonwagon.com.
David McPhail has been a passionate artist since the age of two. He studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and began illustrating books for children in 1972. Since then he has created dozens of beloved books, including the celebrated Mole Music , which was a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book of the Year, the bestselling If You Were My Bunny , Edward and the Pirates , Lost! and Drawing Lessons from a Bear . He lives in New Hampshire.
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-K-In this cozy alphabet/bedtime hybrid, a mother tucks her reluctant child into bed, offering examples of how other animals prepare for sleep to convince her little one to doze. The story begins and ends with the mother speaking in soothing rhyming verse; her alphabetized descriptions of "the awake animals getting sleepy" are non-rhyming but mostly alliterative, e.g., "Cat's curled up on a crimson couch cushion." Full-page watercolor and ink illustrations in soft, muted colors depict mildly stylized, drowsy animals (generally one, but sometimes two or three per letter). The large cursive capitals fit well into the overall design of the pages, noticeable but unobtrusive. With dozens, if not hundreds, of other alphabet books out there (including previous alphabet books by Dragonwagon and McPhail), it might be difficult to find room for one more, especially in smaller collections; however, if you are looking for new additions, this one is quietly pleasant.-Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Parents are wont to point out that just because everyone else is doing something doesn't mean their offspring should, but Dragonwagon and McPhail provide a persuasive exception. When a small boy resists sleep, his mother points out that "every creature, tame and wild,/ has night and day, has still and leap,/ has wide awake and sound asleep." While McPhail imagines that some of those weary animals are watching from the doorway and window, Dragonwagon offers an "alphabet of ways to sleep," smoothly working in some alliteration: "Rabbit relaxes into restful repose, dreaming of ripe red radishes." With meticulous inking and a palette of watercolors that glows with the soft colors of dusk and twilight, McPhail portrays an animal world where sleep is a welcome visitor and bedding down is an eloquent expression of personality. Each of his animal portraits is a beautiful mix of texture, detail, and mood, whether portraying a yawning, hulking yak or an otter who snoozes while clutching a looping letter "O" like a floatation device. Ages 3-6. Agent: Edite Kroll, Edite Kroll Literary Agency. Illustrator's agent: Faith Hamlin, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.