Sleepy Boy

With its exquisite artwork and mesmerizing text, this bedtime book is simply enchanting. Anderson's ("Weaving the Rainbow") watercolor and charcoal paintings bring to mind Mary Cassatt's portraits of children, but they are suffused with a remarkable golden Renaissance light. "Here is a boy who will not sleep," begins the book, as readers see just the boy's toes; a turn of the page puts the view in context -a restless boy with his feet propped on the headboard of his bed as he reflects on his day watching lions at the zoo. Another spread reveals only the boy's wide-open eyes, with the reflected image of a lion cub, a recurring visual motif. First-time author Kanevsky describes the fidgety boy's thoughts with sensitivity and minute detail as he feels "his eyelashes/ making tiny movements, / fanning the air under his eyes." Anderson blurs the distinction between the boy's real and imagined worlds with a palette that echoes the lions' fur and with images of the cub trying to climb onto the boy's bed or looking out the window. Finally, the boy hears the cub's low purr and they fall asleep together. The father's tenderness as he caresses his son's head on the book's startling cover painting is in harmony with the alert watchfulness of the lioness as she mothers her cub. Ages 2-5. "(May)"

Copyright 2006 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

PreS-K -A child has trouble falling asleep. Although his father lies beside him, holding him and calming him, all of the boy -s senses are alert. He sees his own nose - -blurry and giant - -and the -dusty, golden color - of a nearby lamp. He hears his mother in the bathroom singing and hums along, - -&so low, he thinks it sounds like breathing. - He feels his father -s -scratchy chin - and -soft, papery - shirt. The text progresses quietly, lyrically in a tone that is sensuous, soothing, and thoughtful. Throughout the narrative, the boy also thinks about the lions he saw during a visit to the zoo earlier that day, remembering how a cub was washed and fed. His self-association with the animal is wonderfully expressed in the watercolor-and-charcoal artwork, which presents the two of them as counterparts. The evocative, photo-quality paintings are luscious and sophisticated. A soft, tawny glow envelopes each picture, be it of the child, sweetly curled in his father -s arms, or the cub, roaming the room, gazing out the window, or playing with the boy -s shoes. Readers see the feline reflected in the youngster -s eye, or perched beside the mother -s sink, reaching out to play with the running water. This beautiful book is a stellar collaboration with a fully sustained vision; it will move, enrich, and challenge children." -Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.