Hello 2018! Look who is dancing right into the new year! It’s Little Rabbit. For our first First Friday of the year, we are excited to introduce two new Storytime Sets, manufactured by our friends at C.R. Gibson. Each set includes a sturdy board book, excellent for reading before nap, bedtime or in the carpool line. AND, each book comes with an adorable, soft blankie-toy for cuddling while reading the story together.
If you are wondering how a little rabbit hopped into the pages of this book, here’s a little bit about the process:
When I began thinking about this story, we had just enjoyed a visit with my favorite toddler, who loves to dance. At the time, the music that put a little pep in his step came from Bruno Mars, but, I also discovered that I could dance him to sleep with a little Al Green. We were dancing 24-7. So, when C.R. Gibson asked me to create two new board books, I decided to start with a happy dancing rabbit.
And (full admission) we are also big fans of Dancing with the Stars, so you might spy a few familiar dance steps in these bunny sketches. (Below: sometimes you feel a jive, sometimes you feel like a waltz.)
And then one day, surprise, surprise … a little field mouse just popped right into the sketches. I love to read picture books that include some hidden figures. It’s like a little bonus story within a story. Plus, it can add a bit of self esteem like this:
“Do you see anybody else dancing on this page?”
“Here is a tiny mouse, Nana!”
“Wow, you found a tiny mouse. You are very clever!”
And speaking of bonuses, we designed a super-soft blankie-friend to go with each book. It can read along with you, and maybe do a bit of dancing, and then stay tucked into a tiny hand as your little one falls fast asleep. (And you, too, if you are like we are when we have sleep-police duty!)
For the second book, I decided to create a Bedtime Countdown for a busy little bear. When one is in charge of bedtime for wiggly little toddlers, one learns quickly that there can never be too many books about the virtues of sleeping.
Here are some paintings of Little Bear on his journey to sleepiness. I made the color palette for this book a little darker and dreamier … just pulling out all the bedtime tricks.
When you first begin to read this book with your favorite little toddler, he or she might be in a giggly mood like our little fella was (below) … But, if you read very softly … and very slowly … as the pages turn … and the eyelids begin to feel very veeerrry heavy …….
… the end of the story might just look something like this sweet angel below. (Can you tell I’m a smitten Nana?!)
PS. I can’t guarantee a smooth bedtime journey with our little book. But, if it doesn’t work, then that just means 5 more minutes of the best snuggles ever, which for me, is a dream come true!
Wishing you sweet dreams and a happy new year, from all of us at Mej Mej!
