A happy place

The wonders of nighttime await a brown-skinned child in a cozy hat who responds to a star's invitation: "Follow me.../ and I will help you find a happy place." As the child follows the star's repeated "Let's go" outdoors, fields of flowers wave, a river glimmers, and a forest beckons under a brilliant full moon. Die-cut openings soon reveal a growing group of animal companions--a "tippy-toed/ squirrel," a fox, a hare, two stoats--who gather to "dance/ and sing/ in the light/ of the moon/ together." Next, they depart, leaving child and star alone once more: "just/ you and me,/ embracing the/ world." Viewed through greenery, as if in secret, the child is seen reaching, arms wide, the star at the tip of one hand, before returning home. Spreads with a cut-out window view the child safe in bed with the star guardian outside: "I will watch over you, sleeping peacefully." For this dreamy fantasy, Teckentrup (My Little Book of Big Questions) fuses imagination, natural beauty, and a sense of escape to create a heady mix that presents evening as a place of security and wonder. Ages 3--7. (Feb.)

A youngster follows a star on an illuminated nighttime journey. Restless, a teddy bear cast aside, a brown-skinned child reaches out to a bright star shining through a die-cut bedroom window. "Follow me, whispers the star, / and I will help you find a happy place." With the star firmly in hand, the young tot leaves home and walks past the river, over the hills, and into the enchanted woods. A dusky haze of pinks and blues surrounds a (mostly) circular cutout of the moon, encouraging everyone to dance by its light. Animal inhabitants, found in peek-through die-cut snippets ("a tippy-toed squirrel," "a long-eared hare," "and a pair of starry-eyed stoats"), all sing and dance together until they get sleepy. The star then whispers that it's time to go home. But has the youngster really ever left the safety of the snuggled-up covers? Only the star knows for sure. Deep, shadowy hues, highlighted by pops of other muted colors, are comforting rather than frightening. Nighttime is one of Teckentrup's specialties, and this gently soothing tale is no exception; it's sure to have little ones on their way to the sweetest of dreams in no time. Dreamlike, quiet, delightful. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.