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Montreal Gazette

Books for Kids: Stories to send them to sleep

Books By Special to Montreal Gazette 'In the great green room there was a telephone and a red balloon and a picture of the cow jumping over the moon ...' When I acquired a copy of Goodnight Moon soon after the birth of my first child, the classic picture book by Margaret Wise Brown with those opening lines, originally published in 1947, left me decidedly underwhelmed. The text, in a lilting rhyme, basically consisted of a list of things in a room and Clement Hurd's illustrations, while colourful, struck me as flat-looking and simplistic. But reading the book to my sons at bedtime changed my mind. Their interest in pointing at items listed in the soothing, repetitive text helped explain why, decades later, Goodnight Moon remains a staple of nightly bedtime routines in households where sharing a book with little ones is valued. Goodnight Moon has become my go-to gift for new mothers (although I also like to tuck in Sandra Boynton's comical The Going to Bed Book, first published in 1982), but over the years plenty of other titles have made the list of bedtime books. Below, some new and relatively recent additions. By Shauntay Grant Illustrated by Zach Manbeck Tundra Books Ages 2 to 5 Nova Scotia's Shauntay Grant was inspired by Goodnight Moon when she wrote the rhyming text for this just-published picture book. Pennsylvania-based illustrator Zach Manbeck cites the film The Wizard of Oz and the paintings of Maxfield Parrish and Vincent van Gogh as his inspirations. The result is a lyrical bedtime book with golden mixed-media art that depicts a child busy with his toy box who allows himself to be carried off by a magical Mother Moon figure through a starry sky into a dreamlike playland filled with familiar toy characters, where he is finally lulled to sleep. The Great Dinosaur Sleepover By Linda Bailey Illustrated by Joe Bluhm Tundra Books Ages 4 to 8 Jake is about to celebrate a birthday; he invites three friends to a sleepover with a dinosaur theme. Jake loves dinosaurs! Everything is ready when the big day arrives — except that things go 'stupendously wrong' when his dad tells him the friends have all caught the flu and the sleepover will have to be postponed. 'But everything's ready NOW!' Jake wails. Too sad to eat, he goes to bed early, waking in the middle of the night when he hears a snort. Creeping downstairs, he finds three dinosaurs watching TV. It makes for the best birthday ever, especially when three more dinos join them for games outside. When he tells his parents about it the next morning, they say he must have been dreaming. Until one of his friends shows up with a special birthday gift! Happy Dreams, Little Bunny Written and illustrated by Leah Hong Little, Brown & Co. Ages 3 to 7 Little Bunny, the central figure in Leah Hong's bedtime story, has trouble getting to sleep, so his mom suggests turning some of the thoughts that keep him awake into dreams. 'It won't be hard,' she says, 'with your imagination.' Little Bunny enlists the help of his toy elephant and together they dream up a magical series of adventures that eventually help Little Bunny drift off to sleep. Beautifully illustrated in pastel, pencil crayon and graphite, the text is written as a loving question-and-answer exchange between Mommy and Little Bunny. Awake, Asleep By Kyle Lukoff Illustrated by Nadia Alam Orchard Books, a Scholastic imprint Ages 3 to 5 Beginning with 'a kiss, a blink, a dawn, a break,' author Kyle Lukoff and Toronto-based illustrator Nadia Alam introduce us to three diverse families and their young offspring as they go about a day's activities, occasionally crossing paths, until night falls and the book ends with 'a kiss, a blink, a night, asleep.' The minimal text, combined with the lively images, tells a story of three sets of neighbours and how their children interact. A wonderful bedtime book, since even those who can't read for themselves yet will be able to decode the images and appreciate their message of individuality and togetherness. Too Early By Nora Ericson Illustrated by Elly MacKay Abrams Books for Young Readers Ages 3 to 7 'You wake up too early,' Daddy tells his early riser, as he shuffles the child down the stairs, trying not to wake the baby and letting Mama have more time in bed. Downstairs, he gets the coffee pot burbling and gives the early riser some warm milk before they both head out to the porch and snuggle together to watch the stars in the sky. An evocative text and glowing illustrations make this a perfect bedtime book, since it offers the promise of a new day to follow a night's sleep.