dancing, dazzling Josephine Baker

by Wendy Lawrence

I love a book that you can’t easily categorize, and this is one of them. At first glance, you think it’s a picture book, bright and boldly covered. But it’s also thick, almost like a middle grade book, and is 104 pages. When you look at the words, you realize it’s a kind of poem, the whole book written in beautiful language that mimics the dancing of its protagonist, Josephine Baker.

Title: Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker
Author: Patricia Hruby Powell
Illustrator: Christian Robinson (who has worked for Pixar and Sesame Workshop)
Genre: Nonfiction, Poetry, Art, Dance, African-American
Ages: 7 – 10, but younger children could be read a few pages and older children could use as a research text

This book tells of the life of an amazing woman who ran away from the slums of St. Louis with a dance troupe and made her way to Carnegie Hall and theatres in Paris. She fought tremendous racism, performing at clubs where she wasn’t even allowed to walk through the front door, places she wouldn’t have been allowed to eat. Josephine Baker ended up leaving for Europe where she felt better received and found tremendous success. The book doesn’t dance around any issues: it talks about the Ku Klux Klan, World War II. It talks about how she bleached her skin with lemon juice and how, even after beings so well received in France, she was called a “savage” and a “devil” in Austria. Always wanting to please, she dressed the next night in all white and sang a gorgeous lullaby, a Negro Spiritual called “Pretty Little Baby”. It worked. They called her an “angel”.

Josephine Baker adopted twelve children throughout her life, her famous “Rainbow Tribe”. They came from eleven countries and Josephine brought each of them up celebrating their own religion–Buddhist, Shinto, Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and animist. She had a gorgeous and interesting life. She was still performing in her seventies when she died in her sleep after a long night of dancing.

The press release that comes with the book dutifully mentions how it is perfect for February (African-American history month) and April (Poetry month), but seriously, let’s hope it’s read all year long. I love that you can use this book to introduce some very heavy topics to your child, but in a very colorful, happy, positive way, not only because of the colors in the book, but because of the colorful, energetic character who titles it.

A book to be thankful for

by Wendy Lawrence

Thanksgiving is coming up and I have the bestest ever picture book for that! I just checked it out of the library and now plan to buy a copy. I’m excited to have a great Thanksgiving story to share with my children; one that combines history with a gripping story, one that teaches about women’s rights without preaching, and one that will help add a whole helping of meaning to our Thanksgiving table. This is a fun story that will be enjoyed by the little ones but with enough history and real issues to be liked by kids much older than the usual picture book audience. Heck, I liked it so much I read it twice right away.

Title:  Sarah Gives Thanks
Author: Mike Allegra
Illustrator: David Gardner
Genre: Picture Book, History, Nonfiction
Age: 2 – 10

Sarah Gives Thanks is a true and well-researched story by Mike Allegra. A widow, Sarah works in a hat shop, even though she has a particular disdain for impractical fashion. Even though women didn’t attend college in her time, she gets an education with her older brother’s textbooks from Dartmouth. You get a sense of her personality when she convinces him to help her study on his vacation by saying “I am not going to go away, Horatio. Therefore you might as well do as I ask.” Even though this is the early 1800s when women had few professional options, Sarah publishes a few poems in a magazine and later becomes a widely read  author. She and her family are invited to move to Boston so she can become a magazine editor (although she insisted on being called an editress). She quickly becomes an influential figure in America, and her opinions matter.

Throughout all this time, Sarah has been celebrating Thanksgiving, not yet a national holiday, and telling everyone who would listen (which was getting to be a lot of people) that everyone should celebrate it. She wasn’t as concerned with the holiday’s roots as much as she was concerned with the meaning of the holiday–that we all have something to be thankful for–and this is someone who had already lost two husbands. Sarah wrote to president after president. (“I am not going to go away,” Sarah said. “Therefore the president might as well do as I ask.”) but Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan all ignore her. It wasn’t until Lincoln got her letter in the middle of the Civil War that he agreed that Thanksgiving was exactly what the nation needed.

It’s a phenomenal story that is told much better than my short synopsis and with really great illustrations that bring the characters to life. An author’s note with more information about this amazing woman is included at the end. I love that this is less about the Native Americans and the Pilgrims and more about being thankful, which, given the history of those two groups after their big feast, I think is the message most families want to pass along today. Now when I make my own Thanksgiving about saying our thanks, I know I’m not even rewriting history–I’m just following in the footsteps of the great woman who made this holiday official!

I hope this book makes its way onto your tables and its message–about being who you can be despite prejudices and being thankful despite heavy loss–reaches your children’s hearts and minds. It’s a good one.

The Journey

Kathy Higgs-Coultard, Director of Michiana Writers’ Center

By Kathy Higgs-Coulthard*

When my son, Christopher, was little we used to take frequent walks. Or, more accurately, I would take walks and Christopher would ride along—first in a snuggly (think papoose), then stroller, then wagon. I chose the destination, the route, and the purpose of the trip. Often, our trip was designed to be educational in some way: To the pond to capture tadpoles or to the weeping willow to picnic and read. But eventually Christopher grew less and less content in the role of passenger, until the day came when he insisted on walking.

At first that seemed like a win-win. He could walk and I wouldn’t have to pull the wagon. I decided one of our first excursions would be to the park about a block from our house. The excursion would fit perfectly in the after lunch, before nap slot—five minutes there, about a half hour of playtime, five minutes back. No agenda, just playtime. We sunscreened up and trotted out the door.

Christopher was so excited to be in the lead that he made up a song about going to the park. Wish I’d had a video camera with me (partly so I could share it with you, but mostly so I could use it to blackmail him if the need arises later in life). So, he’s singing “Park, park, PARK, park, PARK!” and  then he stops at the end of our yard and climbs on a big rock, jumps off, climbs back up, repeat. I lure him off the rock, remind him of our destination, and we’re off again, singing.

Until we get across the street. The frogs are thrumming up a storm. Christopher’s eyes light up and he bolts for the cattail forest. Twenty minutes later we emerge, mud-crusted and carrying a new (temporary) travel companion named Ribbit. I look at my watch—naptime is quickly approaching, but it’s okay. We’re really truckin’ now, singing “Park, PARK, park.”

Until two houses from the park. The neighbor’s yard is covered with sweet gum pods. If you’ve ever seen one, you’ll understand Christopher’s fascination—the spiky seed pods look like creatures from another planet. Christopher nearly drops Ribbit as he scrambles to fill his pockets (and mine) with pods. Of course the neighbor comes out laughing. She provides a bucket and Christopher completely fills it. We’re so close to the park I can hear a child squealing “Higher, higher!” presumably as someone pushes him in a swing. I thank the neighbor for her bucket and lure Christopher back to the road, singing “Park, park, park.”

Until we reach the park gate. The squealing child and his daddy are leaving and Christopher has to show them his treasures—his “sweet gummies” and his froggy. The little boy says he wants some and before I can say a word, Christopher is leading them down the street away from the park. Both children are singing “Gummy, gummy, GUMMY.”

In some regards the afternoon was a wash. We never did reach the park. Naptime was very late and only accomplished by allowing Ribbit to sleep in a bowl by Christopher’s bed. But when I really think about it, this trip was the most worthwhile one we’d taken so far. So what if we didn’t swing at the park? Christopher had changed the purpose of our trip, and in so doing, had gained a pet, a new friend, and several dozen spiky seed pods. But the real treasure was the sparkle in Christopher’s eyes the next day as he asked me if we could go on another walk.

A few of my favorite books about the discovery nature of child-directed play:

Title: It’s Raining! It’s Pouring! We’re Exploring!

Author: Polly Peters

Illustrator: Jess Stockham

Genre: Picture book

Ages: 3-7 years

Celebrates the joy of imaginative play as three bored children face a rainy day. Fun rhyming text, playful pictures. Love that Dad and Mom work together making lunch!

Title: Not a Box (And the companion book, Not a Stick)

Author: Antoinette Portis

Genre: Picture book

Ages: 1-6 years

What child doesn’t like to play with an empty box? Especially if the box is big enough to climb in! Inspired by the author’s memories of sitting in a box as a child, this book explores the power of imagination as a child transforms his ordinary box into a spaceship and flies to another planet.

Title: The Preschooler’s Busy Book and The Toddler’s Busy Book

Author: Tish Kuffner

Genre: Nonfiction

Ages: Adult

Although the point of my blog post is that kids need times to direct their own play, a parent can only take hearing “I’m bored” so many times before they cave in. Instead of turning on the TV, try some of the activities in these books.

*You can read more about Kathy here. Kathy normally blogs on the second Monday of the month. Except when the months go by so quickly that I accidentally schedule her post for August instead of July and don’t notice until she politely asks where the post might have gone. In case you were wondering.

Need some science with your watermelon?

I have never tired to make my love for science a secret. Except in high school, and then I actually hated it so there was no secret, just a catastrophic misunderstanding that was luckily remedied by some more creative teachers in college. But that’s another story for another time. Right now, I want to talk about how you can get your kids to love science, too, because, really there is nothing NOT to love. And while most parents know to keep up on reading over the summer, and many also do some math or writing, not everyone thinks about science.

So today I’m linking to an article I wrote for ParentMap magazine in Seattle. It talks about how to bring science to your kid, whether that kid is scientifically, artistically, linguistically, or anything other-istically inclined. So go ahead and click on the link below.

Turn Cooking and Collecting Into Summer Science Fun!

And then, depending on which part you (and your child) likes best, head to the kitchen or the backyard or the library. And let the science learning begin!

Some of the books mentioned in that article can also be found on this blog. LIke Swirl by Swirl, Forest Has A Song, and Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different.

You can’t put the kids in a cardboard box, but you can call on Neville, Boomer, and Big Ernie

We did it last summer. The neighbors are doing it this summer. It’s as American as apple pie and the Fourth of July: the long distance move. The snow might still be on the ground, but I can hear the birds chirping, and they aren’t the only ones looking for a new nest. I can tell by the posts on my neighborhood moms’ group that many human families will soon be following suit. (***Note to people who aren’t moving soon: just skip the next part and read the bit about “Neville”, a great picture book. Then go back to Facebook and thank the heavens you don’t have to move.)

Let’s be honest, nobody likes moving. But let’s be honest again, I only thought I knew how hard moving was when my husband and I moved from the east coast to the Pacific Northwest. And then from the Pacific Northwest to the South. But I didn’t know, not until we moved from the South to the Midwest. It wasn’t the locations that mattered so much, but the cargo: we now had two kids. Things were about to get interesting.

And what do I do when things with my kids get interesting? That’s right, I buy books. Here are some that were awesomely helpful during that time:

Title: Neville
Author: Norton Juster
Illustrator: G. Brian Karas

Neville was our absolute favorite. It was recommended by a fellow children’s book lover in Nashville. Unlike the others mentioned here, it’s not meant as a how-to on moving, but just a great picture book that happens to be about a kid who just moved. A young boy ventures out into his new neighborhood fairly certain that his mom is WRONG when she hints that he might make friends just by walking down the street. But what happens when he stands on the corner and yells “NEVILLE!” at the top of his lungs? Well, you’ll have to read it to find out. I’d recommend this one even if you aren’t moving.

Title: Berenstain’s Bears Moving Day
Authors/Illustrators: Stan and Jan Berenstain

Berenstain Bears’ Moving Day. Some people like these famous bears, some people don’t. And while I understand that they are long and a little preachy, especially by today’s trendy and zen-like picture books, I happen to love the Berenstein bears. And my kids do, too. They tell it like it is, and as long as you agree, they are the way to go. I think this one is an especially good one and definitely useful for a kid who is moving. Brother Bear is sad to leave his cave and his friends, but he learns to love his new tree house (the one we all know and love from other Berenstein Bear books) and find new friends.

Title: Boomer’s Big Day
Author: Constance W. McGeorge
Illustrator: Mary Whyte

Boomer’s Big Day might be my favorite, especially for the littlest set (2 and up). Boomer is a dog and the family doesn’t really play a major role at all in the story, which I think is nice–it really hits that kid-centric point of view where everything revolves around their world, they aren’t getting enough information, and they are trying to figure it out for themselves. Boomer’s troubles start when he can’t understand why he isn’t getting his morning walk, escalate when his favorite toys are boxed up, but disappear when he sees…his new backyard!

Title: Big Ernie’s New Home
Authors/Ilustrators: Teresa and Whitney Martin

Big Ernie’s New Home also uses an animal as the point-of-view character, although Big Ernie (a cat) has a friend (Little Henry) who is going through the move right beside him. A little more prose than Boomer, so it might be better for a slightly older crowd (4 and up perhaps) or littler ones who can sit through a story. (It’s not long by any means, but I guess it seems that way in comparison with other books–picture books are getting shorter and shorter every year. One thing I liked about Big Ernie is that it doesn’t make the assumption that the kid is moving to a better place, which some of the books do. It’s a different place (in this case Santa Fe) and doesn’t describe the new house.

Title: Usborne First Experiences: Moving House
Author: Anne Civardi
Illustrator: Stephen Cartwright

Usborne First Experiences: Moving House was a nice short read, factual but with a story about a family. This family is moving across town, so they are able to visit their house before they move. (This was not the case with us, and as a result my son didn’t request this one as much and I didn’t pick it up as much). The book also includes details about how their new house is getting painted and new carpets before they move in, and compares the old house, which is an attached row house, to the new house, a large stand-alone home. If those facts match up, or at least don’t conflict with your story too much, this–while not great literature–is a nice, quick book that’s easy to understand. I think there is also a sticker book that goes with this, so that could be good, too. Especially if you have a long car ride built into your move.

Title: The Moving Book: A Kids’ Survival Guide
Author: Gabriel Davis
Illustrator: Sue Dennen

The Moving Book: A Kids’ Survival Guide was great, and would have been even better had I taken more time to help my son fill out the answers. Part scrapbook, part tutorial on how to move, and part planner for your new town, this book will help calm kids’ anxieties by making them part of the process. I love the way it asks them to find things they are looking forward to doing in their new town. And it has ideas for saying goodbye to friends and keeping in touch.

If you are moving this Spring or Summer, good luck! Give your kids some concrete ideas. The Wizard of Why asked a thousand times how his bed was possibly going to fit into a truck, so we googled it and found pictures of a bed going into a moving truck. I cannot tell you how much that helped! Plus, when are truck pictures a bad idea? Find a map of the city you are moving to and make some definite plans: is there a children’s museum you can go to? Find pictures on the web and show your kids. Or an art museum or a movie theatre…anything that gives them something to look forward to and convinces them that you are moving them to an actual place on the planet Earth with fellow human beings–and not to whatever dimension of outer space their toddler mind is imagining.

What if someone ELSE could tell your teen it’s going to be okay?

Title: Dear Teen Me
Editors: E. Kristin Anderson and Miranda Kenneally
Genre: Nonfiction
Age: Upper Middle and High School

Want a great book to read with your teens? Instead of having YOU tell them that things will get better, that they will grow up, that it IS possible to learn from what seem like totally awful life-ending experiences, they can hear it in this book from some of their favorite YA authors. These letters, which the authors wrote to their teen selves, are honest, funny, devastating, and ultimately redeeming. This is a great book for any family that reads together. And if your teen will tolerate it, tell them what you would tell your own teen self if you had the chance. But be honest. Teens can smell a liar faster than a vampire can sniff out a pretty girl.

One author writes about finding a knife in the toolshed. At first she’s surprised there is no blood, then she’s surprised by her parents’ reactions. Ilsa Bick, author of Draw the Dark and Ashes, turns this abrupt and powerful memory from her childhood into an equally powerful lesson for kids today about the mistake her parents were making and how she (and her readers) can learn a different lesson than the one that was being taught to her at the time.

Mark Bieschke, who is the managing editor of the San Francisco Bay Guardian and author of The Ultimate LGBT Guide for Teens writes about the night the stole his mom’s car to sneak to a tiny Detroit nightclub. “That night is going to change your life. And no, it’s not because on your way back you make an illegal left-hand turn into the police chief’s personal car…”

Embarrasing moments have their role of course. Geoff Herbach (author of Stupid Fast and Nothing Special) starts his letter with “Humiliation and hilarity are closely linked, my little friend. Don’t lie there in bed, your guts churning, as you replay the terrible scene. I’m glad your shirt stuck to the floor.” He then recounts a hilarious break-dancing-gone-bad story. He ends his essay with these wise words: “Don’t beat yourself up, okay? Just relax. Keep dancing by the highway, you splendid little dork.”

Stacey Jay, who wrote Juliet Immortal and Romeo Redeemed, tells it straight. “Misery is misery. I wish I could say that the world will be shiny and wonderful when you’re grown up, but I can’t, because it won’t.” But she does talk about how things get better, and how the really strong friendships that she had as a teenager save her life and then some. She asks her teen self to give them a hug. “From both of us.”

Laura Ellen gives her teenage self some devastating news about the future of her eyesight. But she also has advice on how to stand up to herself when others won’t. And she ends with this always-applicable advice “P.S. PLEASE stop pretending you don’t know the answers in math class! It’s okay to be smarter than the boys. Really. They’ll get over it.” Laua Ellen’s first book, which comes from her experience with legal blindness, has just been released. It’s a teen thriller called Blind Spot.

This is one for the adults too. You’ll find yourself reminiscing about your own funny or awkward or painful or humiliating pasts. Okay, so maybe it’s not for everyone. 🙂

If you had to write a letter to your own teen self, what would you say? Tell me in the comments. 

watercolor songs in “water sings blue’

I react to the mail the way the citizens do in the Music Man when the Wells Fargo wagon comes to town. I’ve even been known to sing when a package arrives. Even in the days of online shopping, when packages are regular, they still get me excited. But even better is one I’m not expecting. Such was the case with this beautiful gem of a book, which arrived unannounced from the publisher for a review. It’s the perfect time for a beach book, as it’s getting warmer and I’m about to order the next size up of bathing suits (online of course).

Title: Water Sings Blue
Author: Kate Coombs
Illustrator: Meilo So
Genre: Picture Book, Science and Nature
Ages: 0 – 9

Summary and Review: I have a soft spot for poetry picture books. I think poetry is the perfect way to introduce beautiful verse to a child. Children get poetry in a way that English PhD’s are still trying to figure out. And it allows you to read the whole book or just a few favorites, depending on the child, the time, and the interests. This books includes a wide range of poems.

Old Driftwood is beautifully visual:

Old Driftwood / has been to sea / an come back home / unexpectedly.
Gnarled sailor / now he sits high / up on the beach / beyond the tide,
telling of mermaids / and whales thi-i-i-s big / to all the attentive / astonished twigs.

What the Waves Say is rhythmically lyrical:

Shimmer and run, catch the sun. / Ripple thin, catch the wind.
Shift and splash, drift and dash. / Slow and gray, foggy day.
Whisper hush, murmur shush. / Swell and sigh, otter lullaby.
Journey on with a yawn. / Swirl and swish, play with fish.
Roll green, rise and lean— / wake and roar and strike the shore!

and Nudibranch is just silly:

The nudibranch / has dropped his clothes / in a spot not even / his mother slug knows.

Follow up with the kids: The poems are simple enough that they will be accessible to a really young audience. (A few of them might irritate a more serious poet, but I don’t usually pretend to be a more serious poet.)

Kids might like to write their own beach poems, especially during a vacation at the beach—maybe you need something to do when its raining? You could help younger kids by letting them copy the meter of one of the poems in the book. Or even let them use the rhyming words at the end and come up with some of their own words for the rest of the lyrics. How great would your family photo album be for your beach trip with some original art and poetry by your kids!

Or, let your children explore with watercolors and paint their own scenes to these (or their own) poems.

Another fun activity would be to hand the kids a camera (maybe a toy one if they are really young) and let them photograph areas of the beach that could illustrate these (or their own) poems. Then when you get back to doing that family photo album, you will have some of their own photos and maybe even some of their own poems to include!

Your turn: Are you heading to the beach? Do you have any favorite beach poems or poetry picture books?

is your child an alien? and “Is there life in outer space?”

Every parent has times when they are pretty sure their kids are aliens. If you want to teach them about aliens–or space, and planets, and scientific discovery, then here’s a great book for your little alien.

Title: Is There Life in Outer Space?
Author: Franklyn M. Branley
Illustrator: Edward Miller
Genre: Science, Nonfiction, Early Reader, Picture Book
Ages: 3 – 6

The Wizard of Why is pretty sure there are aliens. After all, aliens show up in lot of books and TV shows, and they’re pretty much true, so there must be aliens. And they are cute and green, with antennae and robot friends. (Although he was quick to tell me recently that Mars could not have aliens because it was too hot in the daytime there.) And since my least favorite thing as a mother is squashing his dreams about the world, I was excited that this book tackled the issue for me. And even better, it does so in a realistic, scientific way, but leaves a lot of room for the imaginative preschooler.

It’s a great introductory science book with fun pictures and a lot to talk about. So many early science books are just terrible–in an attempt to speak to younger children, they end up dumbing the issues down so they don’t many any sense. Or so they make science seem so completely, awfully boring. But this is a great one that talks about when people thought there were aliens (such as War of the Worlds) and what scientists have done to discover (or not discover) them. It’s a fun book, and my son, who loves aliens, and is still pretty sure they exist and might visit any minute, loves the book, too.

What about you? What things does your child like to dream and read about?

mambo your way into the soul of a good poem

I love my sister. AND (As a teacher writing comments about kids a lot I was taught never to say BUT in situations like this) :), my memories of her learning to play the violin are not pleasant ones. Which is why I vowed that I would never let my children learn to play a stringed instrument until I had a soundproof room in my house. Which is probably why my 3yo (because can’t all 3yo’s read straight into your soul’s deepest fears?) decided that the violin was exactly what he wanted to play.

We are a few months into our lessons and a few stanzas into Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. And let me say this: every time his bow screeches across the strings, twinkle-starring its way through notes both sharp and flat, maybe some at the same time, I smile with pure happiness. Yes, I am that much of a sucker.

Music gets us where it counts. We use it to get us through the work day. We use it when running, to make us go faster. We use it to calm down. We use it to express our love when dancing. It touches every part of our lives and that’s why this book is so good. Just listen to how it begins:

On summer nights
Papi lets me help out
at the music store.

Papi says you can
read people’s souls
by the music
they listen to;
that hearts
fly home
when the music’s
Just Right.

Title: Under the Mambo Moon
Author: Julia Durango
Illustrator: Fabricio VandenBroeck
Genre: Poetry, Fiction
Age: Middle School, High School, Any, really

Summary and ideas: In this book, characters come and go from a record store as music from all over Latin America is played and remembered. Read this book with a record player nearby. (Okay, the internet will do.) Read the book through once and then the second time you read it, play a song every time one kind of music is played. Dance to it. If you really want to embrace the book, learn to dance the different dances. You don’t have to take a formal class; I’m sure YouTube will come through for you. Or if you are reading this with a class or an older child who likes to be challenged, have them write a copycat poem but with their favorite kind of music instead. Mimicking great writers can be a great learning opportunity.

And then tell me: what strong musical memories do you have?

Bad Dreams, Nightmares, Scary Things, Oh My!

We’re going to need a king-sized bed soon. While the little one is already sleeping through the night, the 3yo has yet to do that. Okay, not that he’s never done it, but it does seem rare. Recently, nightmares have meant that not only is he getting up, he’s getting up and coming to sleep with us. And they seem like pretty scary nightmares–lots of stuff about tornadoes and the earth opening up. (Note to self about letting a 3yo who already lives in tornado country watch the movie Wizard of Oz.)

It’s really pretty awful when your 3yo says to you “Are you going to bed yet? If you stay up, will you keep an eye out? If you go to bed, it’s okay. But if you are up, will you keep an eye out?” I mean, it’s horrendous enough that he has to ask us to “keep an eye out” at night for his “scary things”, but when he adds that it’s “okay” if we don’t because we want (“selfishly” is implied) to sleep, too, well that’s just guilt-inducing. It’s almost enough to make me stay up all night long with a lantern and some HGTV. Almost.

After a week or so of this, my husband issued a challenged. “I’m not worried about this because I know you are going to fix it.” Emphasis on “you”. At first, I gave him the eye roll. The “I’m not in this alone and you are welcome to help out you know” eye roll. But then he really put the moves on–he tried flattery. When my husband tries flattery, which he only does when desperate and when he’s sure sarcasm is not working, it’s almost guaranteed to work. Almost.

But this time it did. “You always solve his problems,” he starts off, warming up. “You’re SO GOOD at this.” He knows he almost has me, so he goes in for the kill. “You are SUCH a GOOD MOM.” Okay, okay, okay. I mean, please, do I have to do everything around here? (Said with mock martyrdom.)

My first instinct was to go with the nocturnal animal angle. I’ve been talking a lot about the nighttime with 3yo since this has started, and the only time he’s been interested in a positive way was when he learned that some animals stay up at night and sleep during the day. In fact, while driving in the car recently, I said that I thought some mice stay up at night (I wasn’t sure about this, but since owls eat mice it sounded reasonable), and my son says that he bets the kind of mice that stay up all night have really big eyes. I used to teach science. I was SO proud of him and this hypothesis based on previous observations of nocturnal animals.

So I went online to look for books about nocturnal animals. I found a couple but a lot of them were scary-looking. They were really going for the gore. I settled for these two, which have minimal gore and horror but both do mention animals eating other animals. Not sure if I want to introduce that concept as part of an attempt to make the bad dreams go away.

I also found a lot of great nighttime and bad dream books. My 3yo was instantly fascinated by them, especially The Berenstain Bears and the Bad Dream, which was partially because his Granddad and Grandma have an almost infinite collection of Berenstain Bear books that he was recently introduced to at their house and partly because it was third-party proof from such reliable sources as Brother and Sister Bear themselves of this “bad dream” business that mom and dad had been talking about that he was TOTALLY not buying.

We immersed ourselves in these books for a few days. He would fall asleep with the books on his stomach, open to the page of the space aliens attacking Brother Bear in a dream. Ironically, that didn’t make him have more dreams, but actually seemed to help. He talks much more openly about his dreams now and even had his first good dream recently (about Cinderella!).

I believe books and good soup can solve any problem, and while I’m sure this is not solved, we are a long way from where we were a week ago. Below are the books we used and a little bit about them.

Title: The Berenstain Bears and the Bad Dream
Authors and Illustrators (they both did both!): Stan and Jan Berenstain
Genre: Picture Book
Age: 2 – 7

 

Summary and Review:  Brother Bear is into Space Grizzlies but when the toys give Sister a nightmare and the movie gives Brother one, too, all four bears end up in bed talking about bad dreams and how they SEEM real, but they aren’t.

Title: The Berenstain Bears In the Dark
Authors and Illustrators: Stan and Jan Berenstain
Genre: Picture Book
Age: 2 – 7

Summary and Review: Sister Bear is afraid of the dark but she learns that she can control her mind and not let her imagination get carried away. I love the pictures in this one that show scary shadow monsters and then the pile of clothes and furniture that created them.

Title: The Dark, Dark, Night
Author: M. Christina Butler
Illustrator: Jane Chapman
Genre: Picture Book
Age: 2 – 7

Summary and Review: This was my favorite and my son loved it, too. Gorgeous, gorgeous pictures and a cute story with a great punchline. The animals are each afraid of the pond monster, who keeps getting bigger the more animals that walk with them in the dark. But they realize that the pond monster is actually just their own shadow (something that older kids will be able to deduce and younger kids will easily see when you point it out on the second reading.)

Title: Can’t You Sleep Little Bear?
Author: Martin Waddel
Illustrator: Barbara Firth
Genre: Picture Book
Age: 2 – 7

Summary and Review: It’s a classic; it’s gorgeous, and it’s a wonderful story. The prose is nice to read and the message about the beauty of the natural world and the power of love is perfect for those children who, like Little Bear, are afraid of “the dark all around us”. I especially like the combination of fear and the implied attempt to just get one more minute before bedtime. Very real.

Title: Good-Night, Owl!
Author/Illustrator: Pat Hutchins
Genre: Picture Book
Age: 2 – 7

Summary and Review: This is a super-cute book with fun illustrations and it introduces the theme of animals who are awake in the day and the night which is something my son has really latched onto in his attempt to understand the darkness. Owl is trying to sleep, but all the day animals keep making noise and waking him up. He doesn’t sleep very well, but don’t worry, he gets the last laugh!

Title: The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark
Author: Jill Tomlinson
Illustrator: Paul Howard
Genre: Picture Book
Age: 2 – 7

Summary and Review: This book is gorgeous and the story is simple with a repetitive prose that I really like in a picture book. Baby owl is afraid of the dark, but when he asks people about the dark, they all give him different descriptions. The boy things dark is “EXCITING” because there are fireworks. An old lady says it is “KIND” and a girl says it is “NECESSARY” (for Father Christmas to come). Baby owl likes fireworks and Christmas, but still doesn’t like the dark until a black cat takes him on a tour and shows him a beautiful view of the city rooftops under the stars at night and owl recognizes “my world!”

Title: Where Are the Night Animals
Author: Stan and Jan Berenstain
Genre: Science, Nonfiction
Age: 2 – 7

Summary and Review: This book is a nice cross between a story and nonfiction. It has great illustrations and gives a great idea of what goes on at night. It introduces the term “diurnal” as well as nocturnal” and has a nice appendix at the end that shows what the nighttime animals do during the day.

Title: Night Animals (Usborne Beginners)
Author: Susan Meredith
Illustrator: Patrizia Donaera and Adam Larkum
Genre: Science, Nonfiction
Age: 2 – 7

Summary and Review: I like this book a lot. Simple photos and drawings, large print and sort words for early readers. Great way to introduce this concept of nocturnal animals. Not scary at all, but does include an illustration of an owl swooping down on a mouse and a leopard eating a dear. Makes me consider buying other books in the Usborne Beginner series, even though I’m generally skeptical of text-book like books. They do come with a website, which is just the most horribly structured thing you’ve ever seen. If you want to spend time flailing through a site that looks like it was designed before the internet, they have some cool printout and coloring pages, but my guess is you’ll do better on Google.

Activity with the kids:

The goal of these books for us was to separate what was not real (scary dreams about Space Grizzlies and Pond Monsters that are really your shadow for example) from what is real (the beauty of the stars and the animals that are awake and living in the night). Reading these books and talking about these with your kids should help them build a good framework on which they can hang their own ideas, separating them into dream and reality increasingly by themselves.

What about you? If you made it this far in this long post??  Do you have any good tricks for nighttime fears? Have you read any of these books? Please tell me below in the comment section! I love hearing from my readers!