Probably best suited to families that already incorporate yoga and meditation into bedtime routines.
Will the titular princess ever get to sleep?
In this purposive adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Princess and the Pea,” the normally good royal sleeper, portrayed as a blue hippo, suddenly cannot fall asleep. Readers have seen that her younger brother (also a blue hippo) accidentally caused a pea to become lodged between her many mattresses. The princess usually assists the royal gardener (a white rabbit), bakes with the royal chef (a green gator), listens to the royal librarian (a brown bear) read, and stargazes with the royal astronomer, a snazzily dressed sloth. But after a couple “tossy-turny” nights, she is exhausted. Luckily, her friends have good advice. The gardener teaches the lizard pose, the chef demonstrates breathing, the librarian shows her how to rest her legs on the wall, and the astronomer talks about putting “each of [her] worries on a star, until with every sparkle, they disappear.” When the princess tries these meditation and yoga techniques, she finally falls asleep. Droll, colorful cartoon illustrations feature the animal characters in distinctive attire, with the sloth astronomer looking especially dapper. The sleep techniques are designed to work best at bedtime, and further information is provided in an author’s note. Unfortunately, as a story, its purpose overwhelms its narrative impact, though kids will enjoy the illustrations. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 25.3% of actual size.)
Probably best suited to families that already incorporate yoga and meditation into bedtime routines. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: April 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4587-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
Too many bugs, figuratively.
Lucy, “the youngest member of a family of fireflies,” must overcome an irrational, moon-induced anxiety in order to leave her family tree trunk and glow.
The first six pages pull readers into a lush, beautiful world of nighttime: “When the sun has set, silence falls over the Big Forest, and all of the nighttime animals wake up.” Mixed media provide an enchanting forest background, with stylized flora and fauna eventually illuminated by a large, benign moon, because the night “doesn’t like to catch them by surprise.” Turning the page catches readers by surprise, though: the family of fireflies is decidedly comical and silly-looking. Similarly, the text moves from a lulling, magical cadence to a distinct shift in mood as the bugs ready themselves for their foray into the night: “They wave their bottoms in the air, wiggle their feelers, take a deep, deep breath, and sing, ‘Here we go, it’s time to glow!’ ” It’s an acceptable change, but more unevenness follows. Lucy’s excitement about finally joining the other bugs turns to “sobbing” two nights in a row. Instead of directly linking her behavior to understandable reactions of children to newness, the text undermines itself by making Lucy’s parents’ sweet reassurances impotent and using the grandmother’s scientific explanation of moonlight as an unnecessary metaphor. Further detracting from the story, the text becomes ever denser and more complex over the book’s short span.
Too many bugs, figuratively. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-84-16147-00-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cuento de Luz
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2015
A sweet and unexpected addition to the waiting-for-baby shelf.
A big, yellow hound dog has small, wonderful dreams.
Emma’s dreams are doggily simple. Rendered in gray, they manifest above her contentedly slumbering form: “singing, dancing, rolling in grass, splashing in water, going for walks,” and eating. After she wakes and eats, she naps again, sprawled on her back, tummy distended, the very picture of canine bliss. Pages turn, with Cooper’s lyrical text focusing on Emma and her sensations: “The days went on, shifting and taking shape, and now there were times when her whole body felt strange, but there was no stopping the days.” A gently curving line of overlapping Emmas, rising, stretching, scratching, shifting, and resettling, underscores time’s march. Adult readers may be anxious at this point, fearing Emma’s impending death with the page turn—but no, it turns out Emma’s been literally full of wonders, and she gazes mildly at a puppy emerging from her own body. Then there they are, seven little Emmas, and they now embody her dreams. Cooper’s brushy, loose watercolors, outlined in swoops of ink, complement his Emma-focused text. She resides in a human home, but her owner appears only as tan-skinned hands extending from the margin to offer a bowl of food, caress her snout, or towel off a pup. In this way, Cooper invites readers into Emma’s interiority, allowing them to sit quietly and wonder with her.
A sweet and unexpected addition to the waiting-for-baby shelf. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781250884763
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
