Song for a Summer Night: A Lullaby

by Robert Heidbreder 

Illustrated by Qin Leng

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-493-0

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

May 2015

Prepare to be lulled into the joyful warmth of a lullaby that will wrap reader and listener in that soft cacophony of a Canadian summer night.  It's when children ready for bed, after long days playing outside, peer out their windows at the creeping darkness of grey periwinkle and marine blues and anticipate a nightly show of colours, sounds and textures.  The branches of trees begin the show with their shh-shh’s, followed by the glint-glint of dancing fireflies, pinging bellflowers (they are bellflowers, after all) and snapping snapdragons, waltzing raccoons, hooting owls, rhythmic crickets, and a sparkling assortment of domestic and wild noisemakers.

The children are spellbound,
attuned to the park.
Its music brightens,
lightens the dark. (pg. 17)

The text is lyrical and the illustrations melodic. Song for a Summer Night harmonizes line and colour with the palatable sweetness of the sound splashes.  Robert Heidbreder does poetry with texture and Qin Leng’s fountain brush and ink art evoke that ethereal musicality, emphasizing darkening backgrounds with flashes of indoor lights, impressed young faces, and splotches of park green and flowers.  Oh, to be enjoying that view and orchestral piece, all without mosquitoes and flies nipping at elbows resting on window sills!

Truly a lullaby for a Canadian summer night.

shh-shh
glint-glint
ping-ping
tra-la-la
snap-snap
tip-tap
hoo-hoo
click-click
purr-purr
scratch-scratch
pound-pound (pg. 32)

Once Upon a Northern Night

by Jean E. Pendziwol

Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-138-0

36 pp.

Ages 4-7

August, 2013

Think of those cold Canadian winter nights, when the fallen snow has us cocooned inside and a quiet stillness blankets the land.  A confetti of snow flakes drift beyond the windows, mounding on branches, railings, and the hidden promises of spring.  If you can place yourself in this divine winter scene and know of a child with whom you may share this, Once Upon a Northern Night will be a lovely addition to your lullaby collection.

I may be reviewing this in June, and it may be the hot summer of August when Once Upon a Northern Night will be released by Groundwood Books, but those are only dates and seasons.  Jean E. Pendziwol's text will transport you beyond a calendar to a darkened night lit by falling snow, taking a path through the pines and birches, sprinkled with flakes, to a garden and frozen apples.  You'll see the deer, owl, hares, fox and mouse but never hear them as their scampers and play are buffered by the snow.  And the glimmering sky of colours and shapes!  Perfection needs no other words.  And Isabelle Arsenault's gentle and reassuring drawings lighten the night-time fears of darkness and warm the winter's cold, creating a soft shelter of wonder and innocence, life and love.  No meditation or relaxation exercise could ever bring the serenity and adoration the infuses Once Upon a Northern Night, soothing all readers, young and old alike.

   *   *   *   *   *   *  

This lovely book trailer was just uploaded to YouTube from House of Anansi and it's just too precious not to share.

Once Upon a Northern Night

Uploaded by House of Anansi on July 17, 2013 to YouTube