Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go To Sleep
Published by Harcourt Brace & Company
Written by Joyce Dunbar
Illustrated by Debi Glori
...is what the three boys I babysit for were really thinking when I asked them about one of the picture books on the top of their bookshelf. After a few hours of me helping them complete their homework, I was not so sure that they’d be willing to help me finish mine; however, they jumped at the opportunity to help someone old (I guess at 22, I’m old now) do homework. They got even more excited when I told them about how my homework was “teacher homework” and that I had to find some really great books and write about them to help make me a better teacher. Well, if I learned anything from this assignment, it’s that students of all ages feel a little bit better about their homework situation after realizing that someone, usually the teacher, worked to create that assignment.
Since it was supposed to be bedtime, I asked the boys to pick out one of their favorite bedtime picture books from when they were younger (they’re too mature for picture books now). The first thing that came to their minds was Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go to Sleep, by Joyce Dunbar. Although I did not read the book until after the boys were asleep they told me all about how it was “sorta babyish” because it was about rabbits, not people and that they were always “really jealous of the bunk beds.” Judging the book by it’s cover, I assumed that the book was about a mother helping her daughter get to sleep. Turns out, it’s about an older brother, Willoughby, helping his younger sister, Willa, fall asleep (I guess the “sorta babyish” rabbits are a little cutesy). I could not help but be charmed by little Willa in her carrot-and-lettuce-print footsie pajamas, clutching her polka dot teddy bear.
It was not until page four that I was officially introduced to Willoughby, the kindest, coolest, big brother who, of course, gets the top bunk. When Willa is having trouble falling asleep because she is scared of having a bad dream, Willoughby is there to show her some of the many reasons why she has no reason to be afraid. The first thing Willoughby does is tell his scared little sister to look under her bed and, thankfully, what’s hiding under the bed isn’t scary at all—it’s Willa’s chicken slippers! I have to comment for a moment on Debi Glori’s amazing ability to express human emotion through animals. Her rabbits cover their eyes with their big floppy ears when they’re sad, trip over their too-big-in-the-toes pajamas when they’re nervous, and hold their breath as they tip toe down the hallway. Glori is so attentive to detail that her version of nighttime in the forest includes bluish-grayish bumble bees sleeping in daisies and birds cozied up in their nests. I loved her pictures so much that I am determined to read the Mr. Bear series which Debi Glori wrote and illustrated (http://www.jacketflap.com/persondetail.asp?person=36493). It was nice to read a story in which the older sibling takes charge while the parents are either asleep (or tip-toeing through the hallway) or otherwise occupied, and it has the potential to be anyone’s bedtime favorite!
Even though my sister is 6 years older than me, we always had the same fears at night. In fact, when I was 5 and she was 11, I had to be moved back into her room, because she was too afraid of the dark to sleep in a room alone. However, we were too terrified to even consider tiptoeing anywhere at night. At least the fear at night part I can identify with, I guess.
ReplyDeleteI think it's so great that the kids you are sitting for helped you pick this book!
This book sounds very sweet. Bedtime stories are long remembered and this recommendation is a slam dunk given the fact that you went to the source. Even with the babyish caveat, the boys apparently gave it a ringing endorsement. Sibling stories have always resonated strongly with me and we made an effort to stock our library with these stories to share with our kids. After all, the sibling relationship is generally the longest of your life and forging strong, meaningful roots and bonds is such a gift. This sibling story seems genuine and tender.
ReplyDeleteI love how you open your discussion with little anecdotes about how the book was introduced to you. I think that it is great that you are connecting the books to other things besides school as well. I think it is good as teachers to remember that students also need to read outside the classroom and this story is great for bedtimes. I also like how the book is about two siblings and not just a parent and child. It's a little different than the usual but just enough to be familiar and relate-able.
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