Starry Blankets: Poems for Bedtime

Eve Merriam's beloved poetry tenderly holds our hearts in this timeless collection of bedtime poetry. Gorgeous illustrations and dreamy stanzas lull even the liveliest little one off to sleep.

'You be the tree, I'll be the pears, carry me, carry me, up the stairs.'

Starry Blankets: Poems for Bedtime is perfect for lap reading or snuggling under the covers, includes more than twenty of Merriam's most known and most loved poems. Selected from across her long career, this collection is a great introduction to this icon in children's poetry.

Nice and Tight

You be saucer,

I'll be cup,

piggyback, piggyback,

pick me up

You be tree,

I'll be pears,

carry me, carry me

up the stairs.

You be Good,

I'll be Night,

tuck me in, tuck me in

nice and tight.

Ryan G. Van Cleave wrote his first poem at age five, and he's been writing, reading, and loving poetry ever since. He earned a PhD in American literature with an emphasis in poetry and has taught at numerous colleges and universities. As The Picture Book Whisperer, he helps celebrities and high-profile clients write picture books and kidlit projects.

Eve Merriam was an Obie Award-winning playwright and a winner of the National Council of the Teachers of English (NCTE) Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. During her distinguished career she authored more than fifty books, including It Doesn't Always Have To Rhyme, 12 Ways to Get to 11, The Inner City Mother Goose, and Low Song. Ms. Merriam died in 1992.

Sejung Kim is an illustrator and author who lives and works in France. She often works on early childhood subject matter, and she has several books published by different publishing houses in France such as Flammarion, Milan, Hatchet, Grnd, Larousse, Auzou, and Lito.

PreS-Gr1-Nineteen poems thoughtfully allude to night, bedtime, or the magical world of dreams. This collection uplifts Merriam's gift for writing poetry for children with each poem celebrating the pleasures of language while being infused with a child's point of view. With soothing repetition and alliteration that rolls off the tongue, the poems double as lullabies. Short poems like "The Magic of Moonlight" embody wonder and playfulness that encourages repeating by heart ("Knobby green pickle, / wrinkled purple prune, / what can you see/ by the light of the moon?"), while the quatrains in "Nice and Tight" use alternating pronouns like "you" and "I" to create opportunities for a shared reading experience ("You be Good, / I'll be Night, / tuck me in, tuck me in, / nice and tight.") Kim's illustrations accompany the poems with the soft and fuzzy comfort of a favorite stuffy. Using a palette that reflects evening light and filled with sleepy animals, children snuggled under their covers, and even an occasional sea creature flying through the landscape of a dream, the illustrations encourage rest and slowing down.

VERDICT A beautiful collection of poems that is sure to be a sweet naptime and bedtime companion.