Has all the characteristics of a classic bedtime story.
A young child comes to regret his obstreperous bedtime behavior after some self-reflection in Foster’s picture book.
Nat, a little boy with light skin and brown hair, lies frustrated in his bed. No matter how hard he tries, he just cannot fall asleep. When he steps into the hallway and discovers his game controller tossed on the floor, a flashback returns him to the events of earlier that night. His parents had urged him to go to bed, but he refused to put down his video game, and an over-the-top tantrum ensued: “My answer is NO! It’s MY controller. I WANT ONE MORE HOUR!” Ashamed, Nat goes back to his room and tries to calm himself with deep breaths. (“If I think hard, I can work out a plan. How to apologize? How to be kind?”) He begins to work on an endearing arts and crafts project to make things right with his family. Dorman’s cartoony illustrations are wonderfully detailed and deftly capture the emotional world of a young child. The rhymes are also a treat, melodic and engaging to read: “Crumpling his blanket and kicking the floor, Nat knew he just couldn’t sleep anymore!” The book offers young readers an accessible and appealing entry point for learning how to reflect on actions, self-soothe, and make amends.
Has all the characteristics of a classic bedtime story.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2026
ISBN: 9781953360502
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Gifted Unlimited
Review Posted Online: today
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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