A tender new story from the award-winning creator of Julián Is a Mermaid celebrates first-time camping, father-child bonding, and feeling at one with the universe.
“We’re going camping, you and me.” “Where?” I ask. “The desert,” says Dad . . . “To shake hands with the universe.”
Going to bed each night can be dark and scary. The night sky stretches out endlessly, making one sensitive child feel small in comparison. So Dad comes up with a plan: a night of camping out in the desert. Together, the two load up Darlin’, the old pickup truck, and drive over the mountain with the radio on, stopping to shoot the breeze at a junkyard before setting up camp, jumping in sand dunes, and lying back to name all the birds they can see. After sunset, when the young thinker feels tiny against the vast sky, Dad knows just what to ask—and just what to say—to soothe away fears. Maybe this night spent under the stars (and a surprise from Mom and the baby later) are just what is needed to show that the universe is a friendly place. From acclaimed author-illustrator Jessica Love comes a story of small moments between father and child that affirms the comfort of finding one’s place in the world.---from the publisher
40 pages 978-1536212396 Ages 4-8
Keywords: bedtime, dealing with fears, father/son, reassurance, belonging, camping, desert, parenting, understanding others, 4 year old, 5 year old, 6 year old, 7 year old, 8 year old, love
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Looking out into the universe every night can make us feel small and feeling small is not the world's best feeling because it can bring on worries and that is exactly what happens to this young boy when he faces the vastness of universe each night as his head hits the pillow.
So, how wonderful.... how absolutely wonderful it is when one morning Dad says to his son, "We're going camping, you and me." "To shake hands with the universe."
The world is a good place, a place we can trust to hold us, when the adults who are responsible for us are smart, and are paying attention and even better, who know how to make hard things better.
In this story making things better means packing up "Darlin" the old family truck and heading out into the desert to make sense of what is in our world. turns out when you get to meet up with birds and plants and stars and you learn their names, they feel more like friends and the universe starts to feel like a place where you have a place among all the other wonders.
This book is a little miracle delivered in 40 pages. It invites us to step out into the spaces of Mother Nature to have fun and get acquainted.
How remarkable to be a child who is seen. How remarkable to be invited to meet all the wondrous creatures who share our planet and our night's skies. Jessica Love gifts us with a book told at a child's eye level. Turns out the universe is amazing and we are each a special bit of the wonder - who also owns a name.
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
