Welcome!

Dear Book Lovers, Welcome! I am delighted that you have found The Through the Looking Glass blog. For over twenty years I reviewed children's literature titles for my online journal, which came out six times a year. Every book review written for that publication can be found on the Through the Looking Glass website (the link is below). I am now moving in a different direction, though the columns that I write are still book-centric. Instead of writing reviews, I'm offering you columns on topics that have been inspired by wonderful books that I have read. I tell you about the books in question, and describe how they have have impacted me. This may sound peculiar to some of you, but the books that I tend to choose are ones that resonate with me on some level. Therefore, when I read the last page and close the covers, I am not quite the same person that I was when first I started reading the book. The shift in my perspective might be miniscule, but it is still there. The books I am looking are both about adult and children's titles. Some of the children's titles will appeal to adults, while others will not. Some of the adult titles will appeal to younger readers, particularly those who are eager to expand their horizons.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration: Book two hundred and thirty

Many children love to have a soothing story read to them at bedtime. I must have read Goodnight Moon to my daughter a thousand times when she was little. Today's book is a perfect last-thing-at-night story to read to a sleepy child. With its musically lyrical text and its dreamlike story, it is perfect for sending a child off into dreamland. 

James Mayhew
Illustrated by Jackie Morris
Picture book
For ages 4 to 6
Barefoot Books, 2009, 978-1-84686-185-7
   It is bedtime and a little boy and his mother are reading together in bed. The little boy sees the first star of the evening shining in the sky and he makes a wish. In dreamland, he wishes he had a little paper boat that he could use to travel to faraway places where “great blue whales leap.” In his little boat he goes to a land where there are children waiting for him, and who invite him to come and play with them.
   Together the children build a castle complete with flags and a moat. They pretend to be knights and kings, and then they go into a cave where they meet a gorgeous dragon who tells them “magic tales of old.” Later they travel “across the starlit sky” on the dragon’s back.
   This magical picture book will take readers on a delightful dreamlike journey where all adventures are grand, and where everyone is kind and welcoming. Gorgeous paintings provide the perfect backdrop for the rhyming text. In the back of the book, readers will find directions for making a little paper boat of their own, just in case they need a dreamland vessel to travel in.
   This title would be a perfect book to read at bedtime, just as the first star is showing itself in the night sky.

1 comment:

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Bookmark and Share