September 2006
Seattle’s Child Reads:
Sleep Well for Back to School
Whether your child is starting daycare, preschool or kindergarten or going back to school, this month it’s time to get erratic summer sleep schedules back to a predictable routine. These three new books by local authors or illustrators can help.
Lull-a-bye, Little One
All sleep experts stress the importance of pre-bedtime rituals, and this charming book walks a toddler gently and joyfully through the evening routine. Deceptively simple illustrations by Seattle artist Hideko Takahashi show the little girl finishing dinner, helping to put away toys, having fun in the bath, singing silly songs, getting into pajamas and being rocked to sleep with a story book – all with the help of doting mother and father. We see pastel, sunset-washed scenes in the background window. Lull-a-bye, Little One is written by Dianne Ochiltree (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2006; $16.99; babies and toddlers).
The Squeaky Door
All children can find things to be scared of so that they don’t get to sleep. In this case, a little boy and his animal bedmates are always awakened by the squeaky door at Grandma’s house. This funny adaptation of a Puerto Rican folk song, re-told by Kirkland children’s librarian and storyteller Margaret Read MacDonald, has the rhythm of a spoken story, with its repetitive lines, cumulative layers of complications and inevitable crash. It begs to be read aloud, with sound effects: WAAAAAA! Meowww! woof! woof! woof! oink! oink oink! neigh! neigh! neigh! KABOOM! and, of course, squeeeak! The Squeaky Door is illustrated by Mary Newell DePalma (HarperCollins, 2006; $12.99; ages 3-6).
Go Back to Bed!
Sometimes it’s not that children are scared to sleep, it’s that they don’t want to because they’re afraid of missing all the fun downstairs. Like Edwin Dupree, they can’t go to sleep because they’re … hungry, hot, thirsty or lonesome. Using the power of exaggeration, Seattle writer Ginger Foglesong Guy has Edwin sneak downstairs and discover a gourmet cooking orgy, an over-the-top snow scene, a water park and a deep silent forest in his living room and kitchen. In the end – still vowing, “I’m not tired. I’ll stay up all night.” – the mischievous boy falls asleep. Go Back to Bed! is illustrated by Puget Sound area artist James Bernardin (Carolrhoda Books, 2006; $15.95; ages 4-8).
New Mystery Series Set in Seattle
Seattle writer Linda Johns has created a smart and
sassy sleuth in 12-year-old Hannah West, who breezes through the city
on foot and by bus. She’s Chinese-born, with an American adoptive
mom, who is temporarily homeless – except that she knows everyone
and finds house-sitting gigs all over town. In this first story, Hannah
West in the Belltown Towers, the two move into an 11th-story condominium
overlooking Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains – and promptly
land in the middle of an art theft involving bicycle messengers and snooty
art dealers. Despite the picture on the cover (where is that supposed
to be?) the book is a delight for all of its spot-on Seattle locales and
references. Coming next month: Hannah West in Deep Waters (in
a floating home on Portage Bay). (Puffin/Sleuth, 2006; $5.99 paperback;
ages 8 and older.)
©2006
Seattle's Child, a publication of the Washington Post Company
All rights reserved
Web design by Intentional Publishing & Design