Hibernate With Me
When I look for new picture books at the library or bookstore, it’s usually the title of the book or the beautiful cover artwork that catches my eye. The first thing I do when I pick up a new picture book? I flip through it quickly, maybe not through the whole thing, but enough to get a feel for it. I may pause at a few illustrations before staring over and reading from the start.
All of this changes when I first read a picture book with Little Lion. We start from the beginning with no sneak peaks.
And as soon as Hibernate with Me arrived, Little Lion INSISTED that we read it together right away.
My two favorite spreads?
The mother bear and baby bear re-drawn as constellations. I turned the page while reading Hibernate With Me with Little Lion and my first response was to pause our reading to admire the brilliant connections. I literally gasped when I turned the page. (Yes, literally is used correctly here.)
The grey page with the baby bear! The baby bear is lost and confused and these shades of grey are beautifully rendered for those emotions.
At first I thought of the book as a lullaby for convincing your child to go to bed. On further re-reads, I’m enamored with the constant refrain that this mommy or daddy bear will always, always, ALWAYS be there for their baby bear. It’s something that I try to impart to my girls, even if they sometimes may feel as if I’m stifling them. I try to give them space, but I also want Little Lion and Mini Me to know that I’m here. No. Matter. What.
It’s a lovely message before going to sleep, especially for little ones who might be going through friendship issues, or who may have some frightening thoughts—all of these things tend to come up right at bedtime for us. Hibernate With Me reinforces that it’s okay to be feel alone or sad or confused, and that the mama/dada/big bear will be waiting with a hug, an ear for listening, or even just some honey and tea, even as they snuggle down for bed.
Though one morning last week, the fears cropped up as Little Lion woke up instead of at night. We’ve been watching Doctor Who as a family, though Mr Bookworm has watched most of the re-boot already. We started with the 12th doctor (Peter Capaldi) as he’s the one that Little Lion dressed up as recently for a friend’s New Year’s British invasion party. We are currently on the 13th doctor (Jodie Whittaker), but we made a detour to watch the classic WEEPING ANGELS episode. You know the one, the one in which you can’t blink or the statues will come closer to you. Sigh. It was creepy…until the end in which I thought was kind of campy and it made me giggle. Little Lion is stuck on the creepy factor, and she woke up in tears. Actual tears. I crawled into her bed with her and she clutched at my sweatshirt to make sure I didn’t sneak back out. Smart girl.
Though no more Doctor Who for a while for us. Or at least, no more weeping angels episodes. You know why the girls requested that episode in the first place? Because Mr. Bookworm has the weeping angels Lego set, of course. So we’ve talked about the series for quite some time.
Back to Hibernate With Me, I’m always a fan of picture books that come with lyrics and music at the end. Hibernate With Me originated as a song, written by musician Benjamin Sheuer, and transformed and illustrated by his wife, Jemima Williams. The video to the musical version is below, or you can watch it on the book’s website here. Bonus: you can also download some fun activity sheets, which include a dot-to-dot of my favorite spread of the bears as the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper!
In conlcusion,
Hibernate With Me is lovely bedtime lullaby, and perfect for the last book before tucking your little ones into bed.
Or maybe first thing in the morning when they wake up too. :D
*****Please note that I was given an advanced copy of Hibernate With Me in exchange for an honest review. For other reviews in the blog tour, see:
If you’d like to enter to win your own copy of Hibernate With Me, go to my Instagram page and comment on the square with Hibernate With Me. Contest is sponsored by Simon and Schuster, is not affiliated with Instagram, and is open to U. S. residents only. Contest closes on February 24, 2019 at 1159pm PST. A random winner will be chosen from the entrants.
Tell Dr. Bookworm!
What’s your favorite bedtime story? We have a selection posted here from a few years ago, but it looks like we need to add to this list! :D
