Review by Booklist Review
Ages 2-6. This rhyming bedtime story, in which a little girl yearns for adventure and stalls for time, is a contemporary counterpart to Margaret Wise Brown's classic Runaway Bunny. It's a snowy night. A girl and her mother are in the girl's bedroom, filled with stuffed Arctic animals that have a part in the story. The girl announces she'll go sailing instead of to bed. To every playful maternal caution (the boat has no sail; the girl will get cold or hungry or lost), the child has a plucky, resourceful response. She'll hitch her boat to a whale or cuddle up to a polar bear; she'll eat ice cream and follow the tracks of a caribou sleigh--until she decides to fly back to her mother on a snow goose. The watercolor-and-pencil illustrations, in pink, orange, and yellow, make the Arctic landscape seem warm and cozy. --Connie Fletcher
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-A rhyming bedtime ritual told in the voices of a parent and a child. Instead of going to sleep, the young pajama-clad girl decides to go sailing. When her mother asks where she'll travel and whether she'll be hungry and/or lonely, her daughter has ready answers as to how she'll solve these and other potential problems. The mother shows concern for her safety, cautioning her about the unknown, while the girl's voice is positive and self-assured. "Won't you be cold?/It's freezing up there!/I'll cuddle up close/to a warm polar bear." The bedroom's sailing theme and a bed covered with stuffed versions of the animals that populate the imagined world make it obvious that the yearning for the Arctic isn't new. Softly rendered in watercolor and Aquarelle pencil, the large, appealing illustrations show the adventurous child on her expedition to the Great White North. The polar land and seascapes feature cool whites and blues, while the friendly and accommodating animals are warm and velvety. Smooth sailing to dreamland.-Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
A young girl staves off sleep by imagining a boat trip to the Arctic. Rhyming verse volleys back and forth between mother and daughter; mother questions her wanderer about her journey (What about food? What if you're lost?) as the child asserts an independent spirit in her responses. The art captures the Arctic of the girlÆs imagining appropriate to the setting and the gentle tone of this bedtime book. From HORN BOOK Spring 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
In this before-bed adventure, a mother and daughter build a story together. Mother begins: "It's nighttime, my little one. Climb into bed." Wherein the young daughter responds, "I don't want to sleep-I'll go sailing instead." Thus we embark on a make-believe journey to the arctic replete with the animals that live there, from familiar whales and walruses to the not-so-familiar caribou and auks. All the animals the youngster meets along the way assist her on her travels. When all is said and done, it's clear that simply imagining travel is sufficient for the moment. The light tone carries the tale, along with a singsong brevity. Winter's (If You Had a Nose Like an Elephant's Trunk, p. 1117, etc.) gentle illustrations are done in dreamy-toned colored pencil and soft watercolors, and the animals are realistically drawn but given friendly expressions. It is a nice touch that all the creatures that the little girl meets show up tucked into bed with the child traveler. Ashman (Maxwell's Magic Mix-up, not reviewed, etc.) has written a splendid bedtime fantasy that's perfect for cold winter nights and, by example, could lead to parents and children putting their heads together to create their own tales. A tender read-a-loud that ends comfortingly in mother's arms and then snuggled into bed. (Picture book. 3-6)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
