COME BACK TO ME

Sin and Secker team up for another bedtime soother.

This title differs from Dream, My Child (2022) in that it features no humans, just an adorable cast of anthropomorphized forest animals, and instead of promising to be there when the child awakes, the parent asks the child to return to them after their night of dreaming, perhaps an acknowledgment that the child is growing older and more independent. This gentle lullaby begins around sunset as a young fox and their constant hedgehog companion begin to wind down from their day, gathering with forest neighbors for dinner and a campfire under the moon. The parent fox tucks the duo in, and the text turns to some of the things they might see in dreamland: some fishes, a whale, storytelling rabbits, bees, etc. But no matter where the two go or what they do, the parent fox wants them to always return in the morning. The odd sights the two see in dreamland may spark a conversation about a child’s own dreams, but while the illustrations (the true stars here) are full of delightful details, the lack of rhyme or rhythm, as well as the fact that there is not an end mark or a capital letter to be found in the text, may relegate this to the bookshelf full of similar titles that fail to stand out against the classics. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

This sleepy tale doesn’t live up to its imaginative illustrations.