This book performs its goal--gracefully lulls your child (and you) to the Land of Nod.
Written: Apr 26 '05 (Updated Apr 26 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Tender, sleepy, soft illustrations, well-chosen writings.
Cons: I wish every author was credited, even in "unknown."
The Bottom Line: Absolutely a required reading book for all children starting at infancy! Joyful, peaceful, brilliantly illustrated drawings work hand-in-hand with relaxed writings. It's all quite effective!
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| lisandrea's Full Review: Kay Chorao - The Baby's Bedtime Book |
First, let me say this review is far overdue. I panned another Chorao book (see review: Baby's Lap Book) and have wanted to balance that piece with a positive review of The Baby's Bedtime Book--I've just been too busy raising my son to pause for a moment & give Chorao her just dues.
This lovely collection of poems and lullabies has become my all-time favorite bedtime reading. Since its goal is to help guide a child to dreamland, it does not contain any of the ghoulish or more frightening images of the Lap Book. Instead, Chorao uses her skilled pencil pastel-colored skills to lull children (& dare I say parents!) to sleep.
Here the colors are appropriate, restful and soft. Like a pillow. Like a cloud. Like falling asleep! To begin, almost everyone is asleep in these images! Creative approaches to each illustration make every page appealing to adult and child readers. Drawings aren't always the "obvious" illustration you might expect--which is refreshing.
I wonder if Ms. Chorao might be a quilter, based on the artful quilt illustrations that abound in this compilation (in particular: "At Night," pp. 16/17, "My Bed Is A Boat," pp. 20/21, "Now I Lay me down To Sleep," pp. 58/59). Some of these drawings are frameable, apart from their connection to their associated writings; like the tender "Lullaby and Good Night" piece, where an infant curls her hands beneath her chin & sleeps soundly on a bed of flower-adorned sheets and comforter. Lilies grow up alongside her crib rails, as her teddy bear & doll seem to sleep in the background as well. The decor of your child's room could be based on that one piece alone, with muted reds, deep ocean blues and pale grass green.
The beauty of this book to me is the arrangement of lullabies among poems. I sing aloud each one that I know--and there are many. So, not only is my son learning William Blake and Robert Louis Stevenson as he drifts into sleep, but this book also leads me to sing classics like "Hush, Little Baby," Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," "All the Pretty Little Horse," and more. My personal favorite is "Sweet and Low," by Alfred Lord Tennyson (pp. 52/53).
There is also a well-calculated pace from one page to the next, brought forth in writing and drawing alike. On pages 26/27 a child looks out the window as if he is personally saying, "I see the moon, and the moon sees me..." as three cats playfully romp around him onto both pages. On the next page those same three cats act out the ever-curious "Rock-a-bye, Baby." One rocks up in a cradle draped loosely over a too-weak branch, as another looks on a bit concerned, and a third (on the 2nd page) leaps away just in time as the cradle tips over on the ground. (I always question anyone's inclusion of this poem in a sleepytime book...but it continually makes press).
To further demonstrate with that type continuum, Chorao goes from "Night" (Blake, p. 14) to "At Night" (Payne, pp. 16/17) and from illustrations of "All The Pretty Little Horses" dancing over a wee-one's bed (pp.30/31) to an apparent original piece about how animals sleep (including horses, who "hang their sleepy heads and stand still in a stall").
For every caution I wrote into my Lap Book review, I write enthusiasm into this review. Buy this for your children; give it as a gift, read it to yourself on a sleepless night! This is like a drug for sleep.
SELECTIONS:
Dance, Little Baby (uncredited poem)
Stars (uncredited poem)
Tree Shadows ("from the Japanese")
Night (William Blake)
At Night (Anne Blackwell Payne)
Girls and Boys, Come Out To Play (uncredited poem)
My Bed Is a Boat (Robert Louis Stevenson)
Hush, Little Baby (uncredited lullaby)
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (Jane Taylor)
I See The Moon (one stanza, uncredited poem)
Rock-a bye, Baby (uncredited lullaby)
All the Pretty Horses (uncredited lullaby)
How They Sleep (uncredited poem)
Minnie and Winnie (Alfred, Lord Tennyson)
A Chill (Christina Rossetti)
Good Night (Jane Taylor)
The Land of Nod (Robert Louis Stevenson)
Gaelic Lullaby (uncredited lullaby)
Lullaby and Good Night (uncredited lullaby)
Cradle-Song (lullaby, Saronjini Naidu)
The While Seal's Lullaby (Rudyard Kipling)
Sleep, Baby, Sleep! (uncredited poem)
Sweet and Low (lullaby, Alfred, Lord Tennyson)
Safe in bed (uncredited poem)
All Through the Night (lullaby, Sir Harold Boulton)
Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (uncredited prayer: first stanza, only)
Day Is Done (uncredited song)
Even if these pieces are of unknown authorship, I believe they should state, "Author Unknown," or some such verbiage. Otherwise, the adult reader is left wondering if Ms. Chorao, herself, authored any of the uncredited pieces (like "How They Sleep," a new one to me!).
The cover of my copy is not the same as presented on epinions--I have an older publication. Personally, I prefer my version--a toddler nestles into his mother's shoulder as his older sister leans against Mom's shoulder. She reads a book (perhaps this one) to them as they cuddle in for the night under a colorful quilt. All around are the animals of bedtime stories--sleeping mice, birds, a rabbit, dog, cat and a bear who listens on with the children. The moon hangs over the upper right hand corner, almost magically putting all to bed. The newer cover is too awake--an older sister reads to her young baby brother as a cat fiddles, animals & children frolic around the edges. I wonder about the change. This cover tells you what to expect--the other sends an opposing message. Is it bedtime or not? Since bedtime is such a struggle for many children (especially in the first three years), I prefer the sleepier cover, which starts the process off right away. My printing is 1984 (but was recently purchased & is in impeccable condition!).
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
lisandrea
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Location: Virginia
Reviews written: 45
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
AP, NFP, WAHM/SAHM but NO SPAM (thank you, Ma'am)! :O)
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