About the Holiday
There’s nothing that refreshes quite as much as a good night’s sleep. That’s why, during Sleep Comfort Month, people are encouraged to take stock of the amount of sleep they get each night. If you lie awake late into the night (or even early morning) and feel sluggish the next day, you may want to consider changing your nightly routine. Limiting light and screen time before bed, keeping the room at a comfortable temperature, and having a set pre-sleep activity like reading or journaling can help you fall asleep quickly and deeply. Children, especially, benefit from a nighttime routine.
The Way Home in the Night
By Akiko Miyakoshi
A mother rabbit carries her little bunny home down familiar lamp-lit streets. As they pass the bookshop and the restaurant, they see the workers closing up for the night. The streets are quiet and deserted, adorned with a golden patchwork of light from the windows along the way. Through the windows the bunny sees and hears the neighbors. A phone rings at Mr. Goat’s, the delicious aroma of a pie wafts from Ms. Sheep’s. “A light flickers” where perhaps “someone is watching TV,” and next door “it sounds like there is a big party.”
Copyright Akiko Miyakoshi, 2017, courtesy of Kids Can Press.
The bunny peers into one window just in time to see two mice saying goodbye. As they approach their own house, the little rabbit’s father joins them. Soon, the bunny knows, it will be time to be tucked into bed. At home Daddy Rabbit pulls up the blankets on his dozing child. Out the window, a crescent moon lights the sky. “Snug under my covers,” the bunny thinks “about the way home. Are the party guests saying goodnight? Is the person on the phone getting ready for bed?” The cook may be taking a long, hot bath, and the bookseller may be “reading on the couch.”
Copyright Akiko Miyakoshi, 2017, courtesy of Kids Can Press.
The bunny wonders if the pie is being shared and whether all the lighted windows are now dark. The last thing the bunny hears before drifting off to sleep are soft footsteps going by and imagines the mouse is walking to the station to take the train home. Throughout town the bright checkerboard windows keep watch as the long, illuminated trains speed past. “Some nights are ordinary, and other nights are special. But every night we all go home to bed.”
Copyright Akiko Miyakoshi, 2017, courtesy of Kids Can Press.
Akiko Miyakoshi sleepy, atmospheric bedtime story reflects all the comfort and mystery that nighttime inspires in little ones. The loving child/parent relationship is sweetly depicted in the beautiful, understated acts of the bunny’s being carried home through the softly lit streets and tucked into bed under warm covers. The glimpses into the neighbor’s windows provides a unifying sense of community as do the final pages that pan out to include the entire town and the idea of the wider world traversed by the bright trains coming and going from the station.
Copyright Akiko Miyakoshi, 2017, courtesy of Kids Can Press.
Miyakoshi’s black, gray, and sepia-toned pencil, charcoal, and gouache illustrations are set aglow with the welcoming light emanating from windows and streetlamps and accented with spots of color in clothing and homey touches. The windows frame cozy vignettes of family life, and young readers may like to imagine their own stories of what is happening in each. Gender neutral clothing and a lack of pronouns makes this a universal book.
Copyright Akiko Miyakoshi, 2017, courtesy of Kids Can Press.
The Way Home in the Night is a cozy, quiet book that is just right for soothing little ones to sleep while giving them the happy assurance of love, commitment, and connection to their world. An exquisite addition to bedtime books, The Way Home in the Night would make a wonderful gift and a favorite choice on any child’s home bookshelf.
Ages 4 – 6
Kids Can Press, 2017 | ISBN 978-1771386630
To learn more about Akiko Miyakoshi, her work, and her books, visit her website.
Sleep Comfort Month Activity
Snuggle Buddy Craft
It’s easy to make your own snuggle buddy with a few pieces of fleece, some fiber fill, and a needle and thread or fabric glue. The great thing about creating your own friend is you can personalize your pal anyway you want!
Supplies
- 1 8-inch by 11-inch piece of fleece in the color or your choice for the body (or scraps if you have some from an earlier project). A larger piece of fleece can be used to make a larger buddy
- 1 5-inch by 8-inch piece of fleece in the color or your choice for the hair (or scraps if you have some from an earlier project)
- 1 small piece of fleece or other material for a pocket, clothes, or blanket
- Small scraps of fleece or other material for the face
- Fiber Fill
- Thread and sewing needle OR fabric glue
- Scissors
Directions
To Make the Body
- Fold the large piece of fleece in half lengthwise and sew along the open side and along the bottom. Alternatively, if using a larger size piece of fleece, fold upward and sew or glue the two sides closed.
- Turn the form inside out
To Make the Hair
- Cut a piece of fleece as wide as your buddy and about 7 – 8 inches long
- Fold the fleece lengthwise
- Insert both ends of the fleece into the opening at the top of the body
- Sew or glue the opening shut, securing the hair
- Cut strips about ¼-inch wide from the top of the hair to close to where the hair is sown into the body
To Make a Pocket or Clothes
- Cut a piece of fleece in the shape of a pocket, shirt, pants, diaper, or blanket
- Sew or glue the pocket or clothes to the buddy
To Make the Face
- Cut eyes, a nose, and a mouth in whatever way you would like your buddy to look.
- Sew or glue the face to the buddy
- Snuggle up!
Picture Book Review
celebratepicturebooks.com 