A Bed of Stars

"We're going camping, you and me," Dad says one morning to the young narrator of this picture book. The two set out for the desert in the white-presenting family's pickup truck, encountering the land's beauty, captured by Love (I Love You Because I Love You) in sketchbook-style paintings and carefully observed phrases ("This is my best smell" says the child about the mountains' fragrance). In images that center the experience of having a parent's undivided attention, father and child identify flora and fauna, jump in sand dunes, and snuggle under the starry desert sky, its vastness echoed accessibly in the print of their truck-bed blanket. When the child confesses to being frightened by "how big the universe is and how it goes on forever and ever," Dad knows just what to say. Stars are made of energy, he explains, "Same as you. Same as the beetles and crows and coyotes. It's all friends and family in this universe." It's a gem of a moment, an example of the way a parent can hear and transform a child's fear. When the two return, repeating the names of "all the new friends I've met... beetles, cacti, coyotes, stars," Mom shares another surprise in this tender story about learning to approach that which feels unknown. Ages 4-8. Agent: Meredith Kaffel Simonoff, Gernert Co. (Apr.)

Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

A perfect bedtime book for the young rambler in your life who is feeling a little overwhelmed. —The TODAY Show 

At breakfast, our protagonist's father announces that they are going camping in the desert. Why? "To shake hands with the universe," says Dad. . . . It's a heavy contemplation of the very nature of being, and yet Love makes it entirely kid-friendly. A gentle specificity easily merges the conceptual with the corporeal. . . . Young listeners who tend to be more introspective than rambunctious will appreciate this soothing rumination on the nature of existence and the accepting of the unknowable. —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review) 

A desert camping trip reassures a child about their place in an immense universe in this gentle, comforting picture book. . . . Love narrates from the child's perspective in straightforward, earnest prose. . . . An earthy color palette and a soft, hazy quality to the linework and shading give the book a comforting, well-worn feel, while layered blues and purples create a majestic image of a star-studded night sky. The strongest element in A Bed of Stars is the calm, simple way in which the father makes the immense and overwhelming universe less frightening and more enchanting. . . a natural fit for bedtime or any situation that calls for reassurance. Love offers a moving reminder that learning can help us face our fears, move with confidence and find our place in the world. —BookPage 

The universe is all around us and the stars are there every night to shine for us is the message Dad seeks to share with his young child who is afraid of the dark. . . .This is a warm story about driving away bedtime fears. The soft sketches and use of colors enhance each scene and informational labels are applied during the teaching moments of the story. —School Library Connection 

[A] lovely celebration of life's wonders. —The Buffalo News 

This story by a New York-based actor and author/illustrator is one of the best of the season. . .This story would be perfect for kids who are between picture books and reading by themselves. —The Pioneer Press