The Bedtime Rhyme

By Walter Wangerin Jr.

Book Overview

"I loved it. The most beautiful thing Walt has done."
--Maurice Sendak

"Wangerin's flight of fancy is full of love, and that is what the listener cannot help but hear."
--Jan Karon

"Any child who gets this read to them will feel safe and protected."
--Janell Cannon, author and illustrator of Stellaluna

"In a series of rhymes, Wangerin (Probity Jones and the Fear Not Angel) dispels a child's fear of the dark by teaching the lessons of God's love and presence. As the rhymes begin, a mother responds to her son's question: "How much do I love you? / Lay down your head, / My gingerbread, / And listen: I'll tell you." She elaborates by telling him that if robbers should come into the room, "I'd clobber those robbers / Until they slobbered / And all their teeth decayed." If her son is threatened by monsters, "I'd grab my reaper, / My vacuum sweeper, / And suck those monsters down " After she reassures him that she will protect him against all things, the mother then tells her son, "Here in your room / All night while you're sleeping, / Kinder and wiser / And best for safekeeping / Is God." Huang's illustrations capture the wildness of the child's imagination and provide just the right background for Wangerin's humorous rhymes. Ages 5-8."

--Publishers Weekly

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1557254672
• ISBN13: 9781557254672
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Paraclete Press
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.3" x 0.4" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 1 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

wonderful book

What a great book!! Great rhyme and great message in this book. A great way to tell kids how much you love them and that God loves them too. My son loves this book. He likes the part with the owl...to whooooom?

A beautiful Bedtime Story

I read this book in a store once and it has stuck with me for years. Now that I have children I am looking forward to reading it to them

Loved, safe and secure

This book is a joy for any age child. The rhymes are fun and silly, and the drawings are wonderful. My 2 year old daughter loves it, and I love reading it to her. Walt Wangerin is a wordsmith of the finest level. I rate this highly for any child, and it is always on my gift list for first or second birthdays.

Safe in God's Hands

This will be last book read every night before the light is turned off. The rhyme explains in many ways how much the child is loved, first by the person reading the book and then by God. The closing imagery of the child's bed held in God's hand invites the child to close their eyes and dream sweet dreams, safe in God's care. My son loves it!