Arlo: The lion who couldn't sleep by Catherine Rayner

This book reads just like a lullaby for a young child with delightful lyrics repeated three times throughout the text. Here are a couple of verses:

Relax your whole body, slow your breathing right down,

Imagine you're sinking into the soft ground ...

As you fall into calmness so comfy and deep,

Your mind will rest and you'll drift off to sleep."

Arlo cannot fall asleep. He is so tired but the grass feels prickly, the earth is hard, the trees are noisy and the desert is way too quiet. His wife, the lioness, and his cubs are all too restless. Thank goodness for the wise owl who sings the all important lullaby. Arlo stretches and relaxes and lets his mind wander to all the places he would like to visit and before he knows it he has fallen into a delicious long sleep. He races over to thank his new friend the owl but it is daytime and the owl should be asleep so Arlo repays the favour and sings the song himself. Owl then falls in to a deep sleep. When he wakes up, Arlo and Owl share their song with the lioness and cubs.

Recently a friend of mine was talking about the glorious art found in children's books by Edward Ardizzone. I passionately want children to experience the best art in the picture books that we share with them. I would add the work of other illustrators who have very fine hand drawn illustrations to this list such as Brian Wildsmith, Ron Brooks, Charlotte Voake, Patrick Benson, Quentin Blake, John Burningham, Helen Oxenbury and Christian Birmingham.  I could of course, list heaps of others but my point here is you need to also know Catherine Rayner - her work is equal to the work of these other famous names. Take a look at Catherine's web pages.

Image Source; My Book Corner

Here are some other examples of art found in picture books by Catherine Rayner:

Mayfly Day by Jeanne Willis illustrated by Tony Ross

I am going to quote some sections from this exquisite book :

Here is Mayfly.
It is her first day on earth.
It is also her last.

Mayflies only live for one day.
But is she sad? Not at all.
She is happy to be alive!

This isn't any old day.
This is the best of days.
She lives for each moment.

We talk about mindfulness and mediation.  Mayfly Day is the perfect book to share for an understanding of these abstract ideas.

This is another of those little treasured books I lifted off our shelves as we work our way through our large picture book collection.

Here are the final lines :

Mayfly lays her eggs
It is a peaceful night.
The best of nights.

She makes one last wish:
'Little ones, may all your tomorrows
be as perfect as my yesterday!'

Mayfly watches the moon come up
and the stars go out.
And is thankful for her wonderful life.

Tony Ross has done gentle pastel illustrations for this book. He has worked with Jeanne Willis on several books including Tadpole's promise and Caterpillar dreams.  Here is one page from Mayfly Day :

You could pair this book with Silence or Someday by Eileen Spinelli.

One more interesting thing to share with you.  Inside many of our books we have little presentation stickers because we hold an annual donate-a-book event each year.  Recently some older students returned to our school for work experience and one was the girl who donated this book. Wish I had found it in time to show her.  It was donated in 2007 when she was in Year One.

Silence by Lemniscates

In our busy world it is good to find a book that demands quiet thought.  We have several books in our school library that fulfill this need and here is a new one Silence.

In the silence
I can hear waves crashing

My favourite lines are In Spring, I can hear bees loving flowers.

This book was created by Lemniscates which is an artist co-operative in Barcelona.  They aim to spark curiosity in children and encourage them to develop a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them.

You might share this book at night when as a way to reflect on the day.  I also like What the Sky knows, What does Peace Feel like?, The Sound of Colors, If you listen by Charlotte Zolotow, The quiet book and How to by Julie Morstad.

We talk about mindfulness as an important strategy for mental health.  Books like Silence might be a good starting point with your young child.  Put away all devices and enjoy the special moments that come from sharing a special book.