Time for Bed, Miyuki

by Roxane Marie Galliez, Seng Soun Ratanavanh (Illustrator)

Overview

Like children everywhere, Miyuki's imagination peaks at bedtime, when she remembers all the things she has to do before she can possibly go to bed: she needs to water the vegetables, gather snails, and prepare for the arrival of the Dragonfly Queen. Her patient grandfather follows along on her adventures, gently encouraging her to go to sleep. In this beautiful story about family, nature, and love, young children and their parents find a welcome companion for their own bedtime journey.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616897055
Publisher:	Princeton Architectural Press
Publication date:	09/18/2018
Sales rank:	294,410
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.70(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Roxane Marie Galliez is a prize-winning writer, poet, and children's book author. She has a doctorate in the history of ancient civilizations and traveled the Pacific Islands for several years as a researcher and journalist. She lives near Saint-Etienne, France.

A graduate of the School of Fine Arts in Paris, Seng Soun Ratanavanh is an illustrator and painter based near Paris, France.

Editorial Reviews

Roxane Marie Galliez and Seng Soun Ratanavanh's gentle, gloriously colorful and imaginative Time for Bed, Miyuki…deals with…the cycles a child might pass through on her way to sleep. While this is a bedtime book, it also honors the schedules children set for themselves before bed.

The New York Times Book Review - Samantha Hunt

"Celebrating the loving care of nature, the indulgent feeding of a child's imagination and the unbreakable bonds of family, Time for Bed, Miyuki is sure to inspire sweet dreams."
-Shelf Awareness

"Eye-catching, detailed artwork illuminates a sweet story about a girl, her grandfather, and an elusive bedtime. Natural elements such as the sun, flowers, a nightingale, and more appear in watercolor-and-colored-pencil illustrations full of fine, luminous details that immerse readers in their world. Clever readers will appreciate the story within a story and imagine what they might do in Miyuki's shoes. A gentle story about bedtime that sweetly captures the importance of nature, family, and childhood in Japanese culture."
- Kirkus Reviews

"Illustrator Seng Soun Ratanavanh's art and palette are some sort of wonderful otherworldly dream. Time for Bed, Miyuki is an enchanting, poetic tale to settle down with at the end of the day. One of our favorites published this year."
-Avery & Augustine

"Roxane Marie Galliez and Seng Soun Ratanavanh's gentle, gloriously colorful and imaginative Time for Bed, Miyuki also deals with cycles - the cycles a child might pass through on her way to sleep. While this is a bedtime book, it also honors the schedules children set for themselves before bed. Miyuki's grandfather, wise and patient, allows Miyuki time for her own rituals of readying body and mind. He confirms his granddaughter's agenda, rather than supplanting it with his own. Together they gather the snails, prepare for the Dragonfly Queen's arrival with water carrots, turnips and radishes, cover the cats in a cozy blanket, dance, bathe and of course, most important, enjoy a bedtime story." - The New York Times Book Review

"The striking artwork brings Miyuki's imagination to life with wondrous, bright colors that curiously set a dreamy stage for this gorgeous bedtime story that also highlights intergenerational family bonds."
- The Children's Book Review

"Time for Bed, Miyuki is a visually stimulating book that suspends time for just a few moments. It prolongs the routine bedtime ritual, morphing it from mundane habit into festive and pleasant inspiration. Time for Bed, Miyuki contains the type of rich and vibrant pretend play-life one hopes is inherent in every child."
-NY Journal of Books

Outstanding Merit, Bank Street Best Children's Books of the Year

From the Publisher

2018-06-11
In this French import, eye-catching, detailed artwork illuminates a sweet story about a girl, her grandfather, and an elusive bedtime.Miyuki, like most young children, is too busy to bother with bedtime. She has "so much to do." Her patient grandfather tells her again and again, "Miyuki, it's time for bed." Instead, Miyuki wants to make a canopy for the Dragonfly Queen, water her carrots and turnips, "gather the whole Snail family together," and "dance the last dance of the day." Natural elements such as the sun, flowers, a nightingale, and more appear in watercolor-and-colored-pencil illustrations full of fine, luminous details that immerse readers in their world. Nearly every spread features an icon of Japanese culture, including the often familiar (a doll in a traditional kimono, an origami crane, a bento box) as well as those that are perhaps less so: a maneki-neko figurine, a koinobori (or carp kite), and a pair of flip-flop-like zori. Fittingly, these icons are not explained even though this is not an #ownvoices book; rather the icons fit together like a puzzle to form a cultural backdrop for Miyuki's universal, accessible problem—how to avoid bedtime at all costs. Clever readers will appreciate the story within a story and imagine what they might do in Miyuki's shoes.A gentle story about bedtime that sweetly captures the importance of nature, family, and childhood in Japanese culture. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews

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