My little star by Mark Sperring
Ill. by Nicola O'Byrne. Bloomsbury, 2014. ISBN 9781408849613
(Age: 3+) Recommended. Animals, Bedtime story. At the end of the day
when the moon rises, the stars appear and children are about to go
to sleep, the time is ripe for a soft and gentle story to be read
aloud to the child, leading them toward closing their eyes. The
rhyming lines are told using the gentlest of words, lulling the
child into a dreamy state as they hear just how precious they are to
their parents.
Each double page shows a different animal and its cub, settling down
to sleep, underlining the words in the poem. Lions, koalas, seals,
tigers, elephants, penguins all figure in this lovely book, and they
are all presented in a nurturing role with their offspring. Younger
children will adore seeing the animals and their babies, and see
themselves as part of the bigger picture of a child going to sleep.
The refrain in the poem tells the child just how precious they are
to the adult, a star.
The warm, cosy feeling generated by the illustrations adds to the
comforting lilt of the poem as it is read, and the information shown
ensures it will be read again at other times than bedtime.
O'Byrne's illustrations are entrancing, speaking of the love and
care between animals and their offspring, including in the
background of the picture many touches of the environment in which
these animals live.
A loving bedtime story.
Fran Knight