The Whole Night Through

"The moon still beams its milky light

Where NO one's staying up tonight!

Now I know what we should do

Let's sleep and dream

the whole night through..."

-- by David Frampton

Summer is a busy season! With more daylight, more activities, more visitors, more travelling...the sleep schedule tends to fly out the window! If you're like me and your bedtime routine needs a little attention, join us this month to celebrate the snuggliest time of day...BEDTIME!

We'll READ:

The Whole Night Through by David Frampton

The Sleepy Book by Charlotte Zolotow

Goodnight Moon (of course!) by Margaret Wise Brown

To Sleep by James Sage

The Noisy Way to Bed by Ian Whybrow

Won't You Be My Kissaroo? by Joanne Ryder

Snug in Mama's Arms by Angela Shelf Medearis

Sweet Dreams by Kimiko Kajikawa

Star Baby by Margaret O'Hair

Time For Bed by Mem Fox

Birdsong Lullaby by Diane Stanley

This week our featured book will be The Whole Night Through, story & woodcuts by David Frampton. Yes, that's right, WOODCUTS! Each page in this book is made from 4 SEPARATE WOODCUTS! Here is what Frampton writes in the jacket notes below a photo of him with stacks of woodcuts...

"This is me with the wood that I carved to make the woodcuts for this book. What is a woodcut? It is a picture that is cut into a pice of wood, then covered with paint and squeezed against a piece of paper. Each picture in this book is made from four separate woodcuts, one for each color. Did you ever step in a puddle and then leave footprints as you walked along? Well, making woodcuts is a bit like that and just as much fun.

New Hampshire is where I have been living and working on woodcuts for the past twenty-five years. We (my wife and two children) love our small town with its quiet ways and friendly people. Our house is near the town center, where you will find one store, a firehouse, and the town library that used to be a one-room schoolhouse. To complete the picture, add a moose, a bear, and a million trees. I have been making woodcuts for children's books for many years, but this is the first one that I have written and illustrated. Our kids grew up without a television. No TV, but there were so many wonderful books. It was by reading to them night after night that I learned about the words and sounds and rhythms that kids love to hear. These are the sounds in my own stories."

And his words, sounds and rhythms are just right for our gathering - plenty of rhyming opportunities for crowd participation! If you're able to stay for book box time, be sure to take a closer look at his work!

I also love what he says about stepping through puddles and leaving footprints. Consider it a home extension activity to walk through puddles... And to do potato prints!

Sleepy songs and fingerplays to be announced...