Carole Lexa Schaefer is a pre-school director, as well as being the author of numerous books for children. She has an MA in Early Childhood Education from the University of Washington, and she now lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband and son, Stefan. Vanessa Cabban obtained a first class BA Honours degree in Illustration from Brighton University and an MA from the Royal College of Art. She has had several exhibitions in Brighton and London and has had her work published in the Creative Review and the European Bookseller. She has illustrated the picture books Love is a Handful of Honey, Bertie and Small and the Fast Bike Ride and Bertie and Small and the Brave Sea Journey.
As bedtime approaches the forest, settling down seems out of the question for a trio of bear cubs, while a quartet of young rabbits insist, "We're still peek-a-booing." As twilight's first stars appear, wise old Grandma Owl takes over. She knows there's nothing more soporific than a bedtime story, and she's barely gotten past the opener when the babies are cuddled up and drifting off. Schaefer (The Squiggle) makes some wonderfully evocative word choices: the hedgehogs, for example, prefer to "snuffle for snacks in the mossy grass," rather than hit the hay. Cabban's (the Bertie and Small books) full-bleed watercolor spreads display a sense of elegance, particularly in the way she handles the colors and composition of the forest's foliage, and the shifting light as night descends. As for the animals themselves, they are plump, pert, but never cloying. Cabban's depiction of a zaftig Mama Toad momentarily forgetting the task at hand and proudly listening to her warty, bedtime-avoiding triplets croon, "Hmm goo, mmm blup," exudes a knowing sense of humor. Author and artist make bedtime about as appealing as it gets. Ages 2-5. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
PreS-Gr 1-"Deep down in the woods," mother animals are saying, "It's sleepytime," but bear cubs want to play, hedgehog babies are still hungry, bunnies are peek-a-booing, and toadlets are making up songs. When wise Grandma Owl hoots, "It's storytime," the little ones settle in for her tale of baby animals drifting off to sleep. This beautifully atmospheric picture book benefits from gentle, often alliterative text: hedgehogs "snuffle for snacks in the mossy grass," and rabbits "hip-hop, they hide under fat, green leaves." Schaefer's words are soothing even as they describe boisterous play, and are a perfect accompaniment to the jewel-toned pencil-and-watercolor illustrations. A sweeping double-page panorama of the woods in late afternoon opens the book, and a nighttime view of the scene appears at the end. In between, the pictures merge from golden-touched greens to blues and purples as the night descends upon the forest. Cabban's animals are extremely expressive, from the mischievous grins of the playful bear cubs to the look of utter contentment on Mama Toad's face as she proudly listens to her children sing. An ideal bedtime story.-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, Eldersburg, MD Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
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