Woodland Dreams

by Karen Jameson, Marc Boutavant (Illustrator)

Overview

In Woodland Dreams, young readers say goodnight to beloved woodland animals as they prepare to sleep.



This sweet bedtime book is at once a picture book and a lullaby, pairing familiar bedtime routines with nonfiction elements.

Little ones will follow along as each animal returns to their warm and cozy woodland home.

• Each adorable animal has their own special nighttime routine.
• Charming illustrations by celebrated artist Marc Boutavant
• Each animal is presented in an approachable, sleep-affirming way.

And once every creature is tucked in tight, shhh . . . It's time for everyone to say goodnight.

From the fox curling up in her den to the turtle dozing off in his shell, Woodland Dreams will send your little one off to sleep with a gentle and loving goodnight.

• The lyrical text is perfect for bedtime read-alouds, engaging little readers with beautiful illustrations and a cozy rhyming narrative.
• Ideal for children ages 3 to 5 years old
• Resonates year-round as a go-to gift for toddler birthdays, holidays, and more
• Perfect for parents, grandparents, and caregivers
• Add it to the shelf with books like Time for Bed by Mem Fox, The Goodnight Train by June Sobel, and If Animals Kissed Good Night by Ann Whitford Paul,

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452170633
Publisher:	Chronicle Books LLC
Publication date:	10/27/2020
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	383,287
Product dimensions:	9.70(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Karen Jameson is a children's author, a poet, a teacher, and a literacy advocate. She lives and works in Southern California.

Marc Boutavant has illustrated a wide range of books and games, including Around the World with Mouk;Barkus; the Around the World Puzzle; and the Sky-High Building Puzzle. His work has also appeared in the New York Times and the New Yorker. He lives in Paris, France.

Editorial Reviews

11/02/2020

In a classic-feeling narrative that features graceful verse and detailed artwork, readers follow a child with peach skin and long sandy hair as she bids goodnight to animals at day’s end. Clad in a teal coat and red-orange boots, she pads through the woods with her black dog, repeating the phrase “Come home” to each animal they encounter—“Come home, Bushy Tail,” to a squirrel. Each spread presents rhythmic, rhyming lines about the animal: “Meadow hopper/ Clover cropper/ Twilight whispers. Time to furrow./ Curl up tight inside your burrow,” reads the page for Long Ears, a rabbit, as the child nears home herself. A warmly autumnal color palette, rich with browns, oranges, and forest greens, enriches the illustrations, which present expansive forest scenes in grainy and sponge-like textures. A cozy goodnight read for sleepy animal lovers. Ages 3–5. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

The book's lovely illustrations have a somnolent effect: as the girl runs through twilight settings, snow starts to fall; pinking skies peek through the dark branches, and adorable animals close their eyes to meet the quiet. Soon, it's time for dreams to swirl."-Foreword Reviews, starred review

"A sonorous, soporific invitation to join woodland creatures in bedding down for the night. . . . Jameson displays a rare gift for harmonious language and rhyme. . . . Sweet fare for bed- or naptimes, with a light frosting of natural history."-Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"A gorgeous ode to curling up for the night, this is the second book from the author Karen Jameson, a rising bedtime specialist who previously wrote "Moon Babies" and whose next book will be titled "Farm Lullaby." Here, each critter is given a sweet nickname and called to bed with a doubled couplet. . . . [I]llustrator Marc Boutavant's] sunset-to-twilight palette is rich. . . his compositions suggest girl, dog and fauna are all part of a larger, interwoven whole. Just lovely."-The New York Times

"[A] classic-feeling narrative that features graceful verse and detailed artwork. . . [Woodland Dreams is a] cozy goodnight read for sleepy animal lovers."-Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

★ 2020-09-01
A sonorous, soporific invitation to join woodland creatures in bedding down for the night.

As in her Moon Babies, illustrated by Amy Hevron (2019), Jameson displays a rare gift for harmonious language and rhyme. She leads off with a bear: “Come home, Big Paws. / Berry picker / Honey trickster / Shadows deepen in the glen. / Lumber back inside your den.” Continuing in the same pattern, she urges a moose (“Velvet Nose”), a deer (“Tiny Hooves”), and a succession of ever smaller creatures to find their nooks and nests as twilight deepens in Boutavant’s woodsy, autumnal scenes and snow begins to drift down. Through each of those scenes quietly walks an alert White child (accompanied by an unusually self-controlled pooch), peering through branches or over rocks at the animals in the foregrounds and sketching them in a notebook. The observer’s turn comes round at last, as a bearded parent beckons: “This way, Small Boots. / Brave trailblazer / Bright stargazer / Cabin’s toasty. Blanket’s soft. / Snuggle deep in sleeping loft.” The animals go unnamed, leaving it to younger listeners to identify each one from the pictures…if they can do so before the verses’ murmurous tempo closes their eyes.

Sweet fare for bed- or naptimes, with a light frosting of natural history. (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews