The Dreamtime Fairies

This book has really grown on us, and really has become a little magical. Visually, the book works well. The drawings are really beautiful. The typography is well done, and fairly easy to read even at bedtime. The story works well - engaging, and with good flow. For us, it's more about their group (Lucy, Jamie, Floppy Rabbit, Bear, Turtle, Tiger and Foxy) on an adventure together to find the Dreamtime Fairies (rather than conquering a fear of shadows). There are some clever touches that I didn't see at first, like the way all the animals in the story are in their room on one of the early pages. As with almost all stories, I adapt the story to fit our child. At the moment, that means de-emphasizing the fear of darkness - it's not an issue so I don't want to make it one. To make it a little more brief, I also leave out the parts where they try to sleep the way each animal sleeps. The age range mentioned in the Publishers Weekly blurb above seems about right - a little before 2 to 5 or so, depending as always on the child.

My daughter is just about two years old. We received this book as a gift. My daughter is just mesmerized by the large colorful photos and the adventure of the story. It is one that I know we will be reading together at bed time for a long, long time.

Simple but lively text tells the story of big sister Lucy (a natural born story teller herself) and the way that she helps her little brother, Jamie, overcome his fear of the dark. Charming, big bright illustrations, many of them full double page spreads show the journey that Lucy, Jamie and their bedtime friends Bear and Floppy Rabbit take to find the land of the Dreamtime Fairies. Lucy thinks the Dreamtime Fairies will know how Jamie can fall asleep without being scared. They meet lots of charming characters in the process and all have suggestions to help Jamie but nothing works quite right until they finally do meet the dreamtime fairies. This book is so lovely and filled with tender loving images that it is sure to help soothe and comfort any little one who gets spooked by nighttime shadows on the walls. It offers a whimsical and positive solution for a youngster whose imagination gets stuck in the dark places at nighty-night time and gives them their own built-in nightlight to switch on at will. Sweet.