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Index Interviews: Lee Smith Songwriting Elegance Through Song Form: Part Two Plotting Fake ID Common Writing Mistakes Return to This Issue's Index Return to Homepage Subscribe
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Children's Book ReviewsPage Two of ThreeThe Drowsy Hours: Poems for Bedtime by Susan Pearson, Illustrated by Peter MaloneHarperCollins, June, 2002Picture Book, 40 pages ISBN: 0688166032 Ages 3 and up Ordering information: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk 
In our busy stress-filled world, adults often have little
time and patience for poetry. But children, as yet
untouched by the impossibility of doing it all, are still
open to the rhythm and emotion of poetry. Bedtime,
which can become an emotional tug of war, is one of the
best times to share poetry with a child. The Drowsy
Hours is a collection of poems from our most admired
poets: Carl Sandburg, Walter De La Mare, Robert Louis
Stevenson, Eugene Field and Vachel Lindsay. Combined
with the drowsy, flowing rhythms of the poems are the
fantasy-filled illustrations of Peter Malone. His illustrations
are so filled with drama and magic that a child will carry
their images along with the verbal images of the poetry
into peaceful slumber and happy dreams. The Drowsy
Hours is definitely a book that will leave a child open
to his own happy dreams and fantasies.
-Sarah Reaves White Here Comes Santa Claus by Gene Autry, Oakley Haldeman, Illustrated by Bruce WhatleyHarperCollins, October, 2002Picture Book, 32 pages ISBN: 0060282681 Ages 3 and up Ordering information: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk 
This children's book takes the beloved Christmas
song "Here Comes Santa Claus" by Gene Autry
and Oakley Haldeman, and turns it into an
adorable, illustrated short story.
Each verse in the song is presented as a page in
the book with attractive and colorful illustrations
by Bruce Whatley.
The story and drawings tell the tale of Santa Claus
heading out for his annual Christmas deliveries
with a small puppy that has secretly stowed away
on his sleigh.
Fortunately, Santa ends up needing the puppy as
a gift for a special young boy who has been
dreaming of having a puppy all of his very own.
The inside front and back covers of the book
include the words and music to the song, so if
you have a guitar or piano, you can play and/or sing along.
Whatley, whose illustrations have appeared in other
children's favorites like Captain Pajamas, Wait! No
Paint! and The Ugliest Dog in the World, captures the
magic of Christmas in his drawings: the puppy
who longs for an owner, the joy in the boy's face
when he receives the puppy and Santa happily
delivering his presents around the world.
This is a great book to read
and share with children on the days
leading up to Christmas.
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