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BABY LOVE
by Hope Vestergaard
illustrated by John Wallace
Dutton Children’s Books
Sweet Dreams
Of all the places you can rest,
your favorite one is Daddy’s chest.
You tuck your head beneath his chin,
feel his breath and smell his skin.
Your cozy perch moves up and down,
up and down,
up and down.
Eyelids heavy, not a sound
as you drift off to sleep.
Reviews
From Publisher’s Weekly:
“With some fresh takes on a familiar theme, newcomer Vestergaard captures the nuances of life in this winsome collection of verse…Curly ribbons of pink and blue punctuated by baby accoutrements border each of Wallace’s (Flower Girl) softly rendered watercolors…Ending with an exhortation to “spoil those babies with one extra kiss,” these snapshots of an infant’s endearing moments will appeal to baby lovers of all ages.” © 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus:
“A former teacher and nanny, Vestergaard crafts more than twenty odes to babies in her debut for children. Many speak from the siblings’ perspective…Others, such as “Two of a Kind,” focus on the special role of grandparents…With their musical beat, Vestergaard’s shorter poems (“Fancy Feet” and “Lunch,” for example) are bound to appeal to the youngest listeners.” Kirkus © 2002
A Book is Born
When I was a teacher, I often used rhymes and songs to help infants and toddlers move through transitions: from inside to outside, or from play time to clean up. Sometimes I made up my own, like the poem NEW SHOES, to get toddlers to put on their shoes. I never thought about collecting these everyday moments to make a book until a writer friend of mine, Lisa Wheeler, started working on her own book of poems. I had several little stories or poems in my files that weren’t big enough to make a book on their own, but I realized they were all part of the big picture of a baby’s first year or two.
DRIVING DADDY
by Hope Vestergaard
illustrated by Thierry Courtin
Dutton Children’s Books
WAKE UP, MAMA!
by Hope Vestergaard
illustrated by Thierry Courtin
Dutton Children’s Books
Reviews
From Booklist: “These pint-size companion books will delight active toddlers…The playful rhyming language is short and sweet, just right for the young target audience, and Courtin’s childlike illustrations are also on the mark, providing comforting scenes of tender family fun that youngsters will page through on their own.” –Lauren Peterson, © American Library Association.
A Book is Born
When I was a teacher, I noticed that young children like to use adult bodies as furniture: a place to sit, climb, or lie down. My own kids can’t resist jumping on my back if I’m down on my hands and knees. So I wanted to write a story about how grown-ups are part of a child’s landscape. I started two different versions: one about a toddler driving his dad, and another about a baby climbing up his mom in the bed. The rhythms worked out better in the story that I was then calling MAMA MOUNTAIN, so that’s the piece I polished up and sent out. My agent sent it to Stephanie Owens Lurie at Dutton Children’s books. She said, “I think this would be nice with a companion book. Could Hope do something about a child and a dad?” I pulled out DRIVING DADDY and polished it up. And that’s how an idea turns into a story (or two!) and turns into a book.
HELLO, SNOW!
by Hope Vestergaard
illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott
Melanie Kroupa Books
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Hello, morning . . .Goodbye, night. I see something cold and white!
Pull your clothes on—fast! Get ready to race outside, find a friend, and jump right into piles of white—HELLO, SNOW!
Reviews & News
~2005 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award Winner~
From Booklist:
“Always upbeat and often comical, the artwork captures and extends the joyful tone of the text….This is one winter picture book that lets you feel the snow. And irresistible addition to winter story hours.” © 2004
From Horn Book Magazine:
“New snow, that most joyful of childhood happenings, is celebrated in verse that will have young audiences chanting along by the second reading. Westcott propels the proceedings with spring-loaded, cartoony drawings and cheery colors. Just the thing after a spirited romp in the snow – or when everyone is wishing for one.” © 2004
From School Library Journal:
“The rhyming text uses simple language to highlight familiar activities. The cartoon illustrations are filled with action and humor and reflect the excitement of a snowy day.” © 2004
A Book is Born
When my sons were little, we played a peek-a-boo game while I tried to wrestle them into their snowsuits, mittens, hats, and boots: Goodbye, fingers! Hello, toes! This always made the task more fun. One snowy morning, I was trying to shovel out driveway, but the kids were making it hard. They sledded on the shovels and made forts and knocked snow all over the sidewalks I’d just cleared. I finally gave up and played with them. When we finally went inside, I sat down and wrote the first draft of this story. I still like to sled, and luckily, my kids like to shovel!
HILLSIDE LULLABY
by Hope Vestergaard
illustrated by Margie Moore
Dutton Children’s Books
In a house on a hillside,
a wild little child’s
not ready to close her eyes.
She burrows in blankets,
and talks to her toys,
and listens for lullabies.
Reviews
From Kirkus:
“Each night noise that may startle young children as they attempt to find sleep is attributed to nature-rustling in the leaves, frog croaks, etc. …The sweetly drawn animals tucked in tight for sleep will tempt even the wildest child to listen to his own hillside lullaby and give in to the Sandman. A must for every child with a window to the great outdoors and a heart that will listen to nature’s song.” © 2006
From Booklist:
“This gentle good-night story swings along with the rocking rhythm of a bedtime song…Children will easily recognize the animals’ procrastination techniques…luminous double-page images of starlit sky, deeply shadowed lawn, and sleepy animals evoke both the cozy comfort of bedtime and the dreamy mystery of the nighttime world.” © 2006
From School Library Journal:
“Tucked in her bed, the little girl hears the sounds of the nearby animals, as birds, raccoons, frogs, and deer settle their babies down and the crickets sing the creatures and the child to sleep… youngsters will enjoy nodding off with these gentle, twilight-hued images in their heads.” © 2006
I grew up a city girl and went to sleep to the sounds of cars, neighbors, and siblings. When I moved to our little farm several years ago, the night sounds were a little spooky at first. I could hear deer walking under my bedroom window, toads singing to each other, and hundreds and hundreds of crickets! Once I got used to these noises, I began to look forward to them every night. That’s where the sounds from this book came from — my backyard. The character is based loosely on my niece, Reese, at the time I wrote this, a little girl who really knew how to get cozy and who was very good at entertaining herself. Reese’s dad, Ben, wrote the tune for this book for me!
LISTEN UP!
You can download a personal copy of the Hillside Lullaby song. (File size: 4.28 MB) Music by Ben Hill, performed by LaCretta Ross. Click this link: Hillside Lullaby Song to listen to the MP3 file.
I DON’T WANT TO CLEAN MY ROOM: A Mess of Poems About Chores
by Hope Vestergaard
illustrated by Carol Koeller
Dutton Children’s Books
On the Line
It’s summertime,
the weather’s fine
and we dry laundry on the line.
I find socks among the clothes and m-a-r-c-h them down the line in rows.
Grandma hangs the great big sheets.
They build my walls–
so fresh and sweet!
I stay there,
quiet as a mouse,
and play inside my laundry house.
Reviews
From Kirkus:
“Preschool teachers may find this collection useful for reinforcing basic housekeeping skills in the classroom, and parents might like to try the poems with their preschoolers as a way of focusing on the message of families working cooperatively.” © 2007
From Children’s Literature:
“Parents will enjoy sharing these poems with their youngsters and may actually get some cooperation with household tasks as a result. ” © 2007
A Book is Born
As a preschool teacher, I learned that making chores fun with games or silly songs makes them a lot more appealing, and this trick worked well at home, too. Both my boys loved to play around in the clean laundry, and when we got a new dryer with a fold down door, my younger son really liked to help me take the clothes out. That inspired the poem Laundry Day. When my editor read Laundry Day, she asked about more poems about doing chores, and the rest is, as they say, messtory.