It's bedtime, and Alice can only sleep in a blue room. What is a little girl to do?

Alice is wide, wide awake. Mama brings flowers, tea, a quilt, even lullaby bells to help her sleep. But none of these things are blue, and Alice can sleep only in a blue room. Yet when the light goes out, a bit of magic is stirred up. Pale blue moonlight swirls into her bedroom window. Then the night swirls out, around the moon and into the universe, leaving Alice fast alseep in a most celestial blue room.

* "If bedtime books were dances, this one would be a pas de deux: prose and pictures partner each other effortlessly all the way to the last page. . . . Tusa appears to have breathed in first-time author Averbeck's text and then breathed it out as pictures. The final appearance of the blue room, which sounded so impossible at first, will feel to children like a promise kept." --Publishers Weekly, starred review (3/31/08)

"This dreamy bedtime book doesn''t have a single unnecessary word. . . . Tusa''s illustrations, done in ink, watercolor, and gouache, show a child progressing from Pippi Longstocking-like energy, through acceptance, drowsiness, and finally sleep. Their soft colors and simple lines are perfectly suited to the simplicity of the language. This lovely book works well as a one-on-one bedtime read, but it would also be the perfect final selection for a pajama storytime." --School Library Journal, starred review, June 2008

JIM AVERBECK makes his picture-book debut with In a Blue Room. He lives in San Francisco, California.

 

TRICIA TUSA has illustrated more than fifty books for children, including her own Camilla's New Hairdo. She lives in Galisteo, New Mexico.

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Imprint: Harcourt Children's Books
Distributor: Houghton Mifflin Company
Publication Date: 04-01-2008
Pages: 32
Measurements: 10.00in X 9.00in