[Monday Reading] Girls, Bedtime, and Evening Stories

Myra here.

It’s Monday, What are You Reading is a meme hosted by Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers (new host of Monday reading: Kathryn T at Book Date). Since two of our friends, Linda from Teacher Dance and Tara from A Teaching Life have been joining this meme for quite awhile now, we thought of joining this warm and inviting community.

Last Week’s Review and Miscellany Posts

These picturebooks feature young girls, the quiet of the night, and the power of stories to soothe, comfort, and lull one to sleep.

A Night Time Story

Written by: Roberto Aliaga Illustrated by: Sonja Wimmer English Translation by: Jon Brokenbrow
Published by: Cuento De Luz, 2012. ISBN: 8415241984 (ISBN13: 9788415241980)
Borrowed from the Jurong West Public Library. Book photos taken by me.

I just chanced upon this pictureook at the library – the peace and quiet evoked by the book cover spoke to me. I am also actively on the lookout for picturebooks coming from Europe and when I saw that this was originally published in Spanish with the title Cuento de Noche, I was hooked.

The story begins with a mythical vibe to it:

Every night, before I go to sleep, she sits down on my bed with heaps of stories in her hands. She’s got them all.

She tucks my blankets up under my chin. Then she chooses one at random and, in a gentle voice, begins to read…

One may think that this must be the young girl’s mother – yet the illustrations show an ethereal being, someone filled with stars and as transient as the moon:

I enjoyed how ambiguous the story was – with the storyteller’s black hair flowing into the night skies. While it did appear quite odd (could this be Mother Night? The Evening Skies? Or simply the girl’s mother?), I found it to have a touch of magical realism to it – that if one simply suspends judgment, it will take one into a unique story of its own – one that changes every night, with the young girl as the protagonist in each of the story. There is something different in this book, a twist that I can not put my finger into – but definitely special in all its strangeness.

Sleep Like A Tiger

Written by: Mary Logue Illustrated by: Pamela Zagarenski
Published by: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2012 Book Awards: Caldecott Honor (2013), Charlotte Zolotow Award Nominee for Honor Book (2013), Wisconsin Library Association Outstanding Book Award (2013), ISBN: 0547641028 (ISBN13: 9780547641027)
Borrowed from the Jurong West Public Library. Book photos taken by me.

We are all familiar with young girls who simply refuse to sleep – for whatever reason. This is such a young girl – one who refuses to acknowledge exhaustion, sleep just isn’t for her. I know this young girl – she was me as a child.

I loved Zagarenski’s art. While I found her The Whisper to be a bit too cluttered and unwieldy despite the fact that her art continues to be breathtaking – this one was just right for me. I also especially liked how the parents were never impatient, and how they enticed her to sleep with a book that was never explicitly mentioned in the text but took up space in quite a number of pages:

The parents also patiently shared about all the other creatures out in the world who also need sleep: from an otter to upsidedown bats to fierce tigers.

I do believe that the story was made even more special with Zagarenski’s very thoughtful, detailed art – which won the Caldecott the year this was published. It is just brimming with so much intelligence and crafstmanship – my absolute favourites are the endpapers, particularly the one at the back, with a quiet nod to William Blake’s The Tyger – check out the moon:

This book is further evidence of how picturebooks are such exquisite works of art. Truly a perfect bedtime read.

Currently Reading…

I finished reading Karen Hesse’s Safekeeping. Unfortunately, not one of her best. Will be reviewing it for our July-August reading theme.

I am still reading these two novels. They are both quite thick and I alternate between one and the other before going to bed.

The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and The Game Of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, Elio M. Garcia, Jr., and Linda Antonsson; and In The Country: Stories by Mia Alvar.