#1251 – BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE ANIMAL KINGDOM by Andie Wilson & Afsaneh Bagherloo

BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE ANIMAL KINGDOM
Written by Andie Wilson [debut]
Illustrated by Afsaneh Bagherloo
Healing Worker LLC 11/28/2019
978-1712804308
50 Pages Age 4—8

Genre: Children’s Picture Book, Fiction
Themes: Bedtime Stories, Friendship, Love, Animals

Synopsis

A beautifully illustrated picture book for children with powerful messages about the never ending love parents have for their children, and great values, as treasuring friendship, developing love for nature, encouraging self-love, the goods in hard work, and saving.All characters are animals.Only good vibes for kids at bed time. (from publisher)

Opening Sentences

“Mason, Liam and Ethan were three little hairy penguins. Mason played the grum, Liam the harmonica, and Ethan the accordion. From a young age, the three little penguins, instead of playing soccer, baseball, or hide and seek, spent their afternoons practicing new songs.”

Why I like Bedtime Stories from the Animal Kingdom

Bedtime Stories from the Animal Kingdom is made up of seven short stories with illustrations. Each story is about kid animals and the lessons they learn doing everyday things while paying attention to what their actions make happen. The lessons learned in these stories include:

“Hard work always brings rewards.”
“Differences are good and necessary in all groups.”
“Being grateful for what we take from nature can help others, to later enjoy the same things we had.”
“Saving can make dreams come true. Money, used well, can be used to do wonderful things.”
“Behind every act of his mother and grandmother was a ton of love for him.” (Then adds: “every day with our loved ones is a beautiful blessing.”)
“Trees are our friends.” (Then adds: “they are true treasures we must protect and take care of.”)
“One of the ways we can protect the earth is by keeping our environment as clean as possible.”

Bedtime Stories from the Animal Kingdom opens as far so,,,,,,,,,swquth as you can venture. It’s a paradise for penguins who love the cold, crisp, atmosphere. But these three penguins are interested in making music rather than sliding around in Antarctica with their mostly marine animals. Mason, Liam, and Ethan have formed a band and want to play in a special end-of-the-year concert at school. Dad advises them to practice every day, and they do. Then one weekend, the boys play at Emma’s lemonade stand. She doubles her sales, while the band unknowingly impresses someone important.

Then there is a tall, long necked creature named Abigail. She is the tallest student in her class and maybe in the school. Abigail doesn’t like her long neck or being tall. She wants to know why she has this neck; what is its purpose? Abigail wears long scarfs her grandmother weaved to hide her neck. One day, Abigail goes to a soccer game with friends, but no one is playing. You cannot play soccer without a ball and the one and only ball brought between the two teams was now stuck high up in a tree. The only animals capable of reaching the ball would probably ruin it in the process. Abigail could reach the ball and, without sharp claws, she would not puncture a whole into its side. She was excited to tell her mother what had happened at the game. Abigail had felt needed, like she had a purpose.

Now it’s the weekend and time for Jacob the cat to go fishing with his dad. The first time they went, a huge wave filled the boat with seawater. This seems like a dangerous situation, yet Jacob laughed. With the foresight of an experienced parent, dad was ready with a dry set of clothes for his son. Soon Jacob caught a fish. Dad insisted Jacob give something back to nature for the fish he just took out. It was decided that for each fish they caught, the next day they would plant a tree on a bare hill near their home. Jacob chooses different trees that blossoms differently colored flowers. The hill began to look like a “wall of rainbow.”

There are four more stories to read. Two monkeys find an abandoned puppy, naming him Fido. Mom wants the kids to find the puppy’s mother, sure she is missing him and he her. A little fox finds he has ice-cold legs as winter begins its transformation of the landscape. His little legs even turn blue.

Bedtime Stories from the Animal Kingdom can be easily read at bedtime in just a few minutes time. With its seven stories you will have enough to finish the entire week before your child will be begging for you to start again. The illustrations are good and each story has at least two full-page images. The animals are humanized with clothing and abilities they do not normally have, yet this is the fun of children’s picture books. The writing is good, but needs more editing. For example, the title of each story is written as if a sentence, rather than an actual title. (“Abigail, a giraffe with superpowers” / Abigail, a Giraffe with Superpowers). This will not ruin any enjoyment of the story, unless you are a fussy reviewer.

Young children will like the short four-spread stories, whether as bedtime stories or a full book read at once. They will like the adorable, bright-eyed colorful characters and the wide variety of animals included in the book. (Penguins, giraffes, cats, monkeys, foxes, woodpeckers, bunnies, and a wide variety of secondary characters). Currently, Bedtime Stories from the Animal Kingdom is available as a paperback, which means it is easily bent by little fingers.

Older children may wish for a longer story at bedtime and may not like the didactic nature of the stories. Each story is specifically ends with a lesson in a similar pattern: “Isabella understood an important lesson that day. And what was that lesson?” Always followed with the lesson one should receive from the story. Then the author signs off to the character: “Well done Isabella! Goodnight!” This, of course, clues the young child that it is time to close their eyes and say Goodnight.

Bedtime Stories from the Animal Kingdom is author Andie Wilson’s debut picture book.

Illustrations Rendered digitally.

Available at Amazon

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