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Summary
Summary
A young girl falls asleep and travels in her dreams through the sky, down to the ocean's depths and into a jungle. She is accompanied by a lion friend, who eases her fears, gives her confidence and helps her explore the world around her. Along the way she meets whales, jellyfish, grizzly bears and wolves. Then it is time for the moon balloon to take the girl home to her bed, where she awakes, snuggled safely next to the lion, who returns to being a stuffed toy. Award-winning children's illustrator Britta Teckentrup's collage-like artwork creates a magical world of captivating colours, classic shapes and softly detailed textures. The gently told story reassures children that they are never alone, even in their dreams. Exquisitely produced, this book is certain to become a bedtime favourite for children and their parents.
Author Notes
BRITTA TECKENTRUP is the author and illustrator of many well-loved books for children, including The Memory Tree, The Odd One Out, and Grumpy Cat. Her artwork has been displayed in galleries around the world. She lives in Berlin.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-An imaginative journey through the hours of sleep. This picture book's rhyming text and abstract collage illustrations animate the narrator's dreams. Through rich, dark colors laced with light and shadows, the round moon carries the child's bed like a hot-air balloon down to where a lion-a larger, less rumpled version of the toy seen by the bed-waits. The two set off: "Together we fly/with arms stretched out wide/over the seas/and leave our worries behind." In each ethereal spread, the visuals hold the promise of adventure-sometimes unsettling, sometimes exciting-but the narrator feels confident with the lion there. In a boat, they weather a storm, the sea, and wind. After swimming in the ocean, they meet many other enthusiastic wild animals in the wilderness. The design and pacing of the illustrations stand out more than the text, capturing the spirit of a dream world. Single pages and spreads hold many details to discover. The background colors slowly lighten to reflect time passing, and soon the two must hurry toward the morning. "And when the day dawns,/I stand close to my friend. /'Goodbye for now!'/Night has come to an end." The bed returns to pick up the child. It still hangs from the moon, which is hardly visible in the yellow background, indicating the bright light of day. VERDICT This inviting look at dream time will welcome young listeners ready for sleep, while also offering opportunities to empower and assure those who are feeling more anxious about their dreams.-Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
A girl embarks on a nighttime journey amid dusky colors and a shifting shadow play of forms. Her bed floats off into the starry sky, held up by the moon like a hot-air balloon. Stopping to take a friendly lion on board (sharp-eyed readers will have noticed the girl's stuffed lion on her windowsill), the bed sails over the ocean and into a storm. Girl and lion board a sailboat, then enter in a forest, where they encounter gentle creatures before returning home as morning breaks. Everything they see is mysterious, yet somehow comforting; the lion stands protectively behind the girl as they sail, then lets her ride on its back as they trace a path through the woods. Anodyne verse stitched together with often awkward rhymes is the only disappointment: "I swim with the whales.../ I dive into the ocean.../ I close my eyes,/ so full of emotion." It's Teckentrup's (Your Hand in My Hand) sweetly naïve cutout forms that do most of the storytelling. In them, night isn't something to fear or endure; it's a kingdom of wonders. Ages 3-up. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A child dreams of sailing across the sky and sea, accompanied by a favorite stuffed lion. Together they venture into the night in a bed carried along in a hot air balloon basket suspended from a yellow moon. They travel over a meadow and deep into the ocean, making friends with animals along the way. Author and illustrator Teckentrup owes something to Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are in the style of her illustrations as well as the book's design. In full and partial double-page spreads, the companions float on the seas in a simple sailboat with a triangular sail. The dreamy, sparse text is frequently set opposite the illustrations, surrounded by white space. The story conveys both a sense of adventure and the comfort of a protective companion: "You make me feel safe, / you are always near. / That's why I am brave, / without any fear." Mottled, textured collage and mixed media in a gentle, subdued palette propel the story from the dark of night until dawn, the journey echoed in the endpapers. The lovely illustrations on matte paper are an evocative match to the simple prose, drawing readers into the child's dream. Even the binding of this well-designed book adds to its success, as the large pages fall open with a satisfying sound. This charming bedtime read-aloud, a German import, assures children that a new day awaits them. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
In this contemplative book about dreaming, a young girl and her protective lion float into the night. They travel across the oceans so the girl can swim with sea creatures before moving on to the woods, where friendly animals implore them to stay. Although the invitation is tempting, as night fades, girl and lion part, returning to their respective homes (a stuffed lion waits for the girl at hers) to greet a new day. While floating through the air and encountering strange beasts might cause fear in some, in this case, there is little concern because of the watchful lion. With gentle, reassuring words, the sweet, rhyming text exudes comfort. White pages of text offset darkly shaded, collage-style illustrations that evoke nighttime. On the final pages, the darkness gives way to bright yellows, signaling the new day. Several wordless spreads provide opportunities for additional rumination while conveying the disorientation that dreams can cause. All dreams should be this lovely, and all new days this promising.--Enos, Randall Copyright 2016 Booklist