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THE DROWSY HOURS

Name: THE DROWSY HOURS
Author: Susan Pearson
ISBN: 0-688-16603-2

POEMS FOR BEDTIME

edited by Susan Pearson & illustrated by Peter Malone ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2002

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A modest collection of 16 sleepytime poems, most of them dating from the first half of the last century, with gently surreal illustrations. The design is such that each two-page spread functions as a single unit, with the left-hand-side image or images facing the right-hand page of text. This allows the illustrator a free imaginative rein, so that some pictures are bizarrely fanciful and others gently straightforward; they reflect and enhance the poems in unexpected ways. The classic “Wynken, Blynken, and Nod,” which takes up four pages, plays a Victorian-inspired trio in their wooden shoe boat against a thoroughly modern mom in bare feet and chinos gazing at her babe in a trundle bed. Carl Sandburg’s “Baby Toes” (“There is a blue star, Janet, / Fifteen years’ ride from us, / If we ride a hundred miles an hour”) is paired with a female pilot holding sky charts and a small child sitting in the pilot’s seat of a bi-plane. Lilian Moore’s gorgeous “The Bridge” shows a boy looking out at a bridge from his window, having built bridges on the floor of his room with piles of books as suspension. The North Wind in Vachel Lindsay’s “The Moon’s the North Wind’s Cooky” is a startling, spiky figure with punk hair and bright blue shoes. The illustrator sneaks in the cover of another book he’s illustrated in the marvelous split-screen high-rise view for Norma Farber’s “Manhattan Lullaby.” This sophisticated collection does what it sets out to do, and should give bedtime readers food for dreams. (Picture book/poetry. 3-8)

Pub Date: June 1, 2002

ISBN: 0-688-16603-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2002

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
ARLO ROLLED
by Susan Pearson ; illustrated by Jeff Ebbeler

- BOOK REVIEW
MOUSE HOUSE
by Susan Pearson ; illustrated by Amanda Shepherd

- BOOK REVIEW
SLUGGER
by Susan Pearson ; illustrated by David Slonim

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A DOG NAMED SAM

by Janice Boland & illustrated by G. Brian Karas ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1996

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A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: April 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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CINDERELLA

From the Once Upon a World series

by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Sandra Equihua ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 13, 2016

A nice but not requisite purchase.

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A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.

Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.

A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)