Customer Reviews

In a Blue Room

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Young Alice not only loves the color blue, she insists on it, especially at bedtime. This particular night seem to especially need blue, as "Alice bounces, wide-awake past bedtime." Mama brings her a few of her favorite things: White Flowers (lilacs and lilywhites), tea (orange colored, steaming in a brown cup, a "silky soft and warm" cozy quilt (a red and green pattern), and "lullaby bells to sing you to sleep" ("yellow bells on black strings" that "chime softly in the window breeze.")

Alice, of course, recognizes that none of these sleep-inducing objects are blue and she lets Mama know. Mama, however, recognizes that it's not the color that soothes Alice, but the process of sharing beautiful, simple objects with her mother. When Alice comments on the absence of blue, Mama (Zen-like) merely suggests that she smell, taste, or touch what she's brought into the room: Alice is in the moment. Slowly, and perceptibly to the smiling, warm mother, Alice drifts off to sleep. As she lies sleepily and cozy in bed, surrounded by her mother's nighttime gifts, her room turns blue. There's a natural explanation for the blue-bathed room, but symbolically, I think it represents Mama's love and Alice's trust.

That's a beautiful message (if I got it right), but it may be lost on youngsters. In fact, I had to read the book a few times to understand the apparent disjunction between Alice's protests and her next-page acquiescence to each non-blue object. It's not really explained, and one needs to do a bit of intellectualizing to resolve it. However, Jim Averbeck's softly beautiful narrative, the increasingly sleepy-time feeling of the story, and the almost magical blue-bathing of Alice's room when she falls asleep minimize the impact of this slight logical leap. Of course, young toddlers probably won't notice at all, and that's what counts.

Special mention must be made of the gorgeous ink, watercolor, and gouache pictures by Tricia Tulsa, an enormously talented illustrator whose soft, fanciful pictures have enough substance to enhance the overall mood. They're a mixture of old-fashioned Americana--bouncy energy and clutter--combined with a delicacy and atmosphere that recalls minimalist Asian painting and brushwork. The unusual but soothing palette is ideal. Printed on high quality paper, this will likely find a treasured spot in the bedtime library.

This bedtime story written by Jim Averbeck and illustrated by Tricia Tusa is magical. Averbeck's words shine and shimmer like little lyrical gems in the evening light. His text brings us into the room. I can smell the lilacs and lilywhites, feel the warm tea and hear the lullaby bells chime in the breeze.
Tricia's art is gorgeous. Every new spread brings a fresh perspective and shows Alice longing more and more for her bedroom to be blue.
The end of this story brings a twist that made my heart leap. It is beautiful, magical, and intensely satisfying. I recommend this book to any kid or grown-up who wants their nighttime ritual to be just so.

I read this to a group of preschoolers today and they were wide-eyed, interested and enthralled from beginning to end. The book is ideal for parent and child, any caregiver and child, and school and library readings.

The spare text, full of sensory details, depicts a child avoiding bedtime because blue is her favorite color and she can only sleep in a blue room. It starts lively with Alice jumping on her bed "wide-awake past bedtime" then gradually lulls with words and illustrations as Alice's mother brings her flowers, tea, lullaby bells, and a cozy quilt. Alice becomes more and more drowsy. The words and illustrations seem infused with patience and love, as well as as bit of magic when Alice's desire for a blue room comes true.

In a Blue Room is not just perfect for right-before-bed readings. When I read it to our preschoolers it was nowhere near nap-time let alone bedtime. The delightful surprise twist of an ending also fit perfectly with our recent preschool themes of Moon, Earth and Space, and even our upcoming celebration of Earth Day. After hearing the story our preschoolers rushed to the art table and were inspired to draw pictures of beautiful blue rooms! It's hard to beat Tricia Tusa's illustrations--but watch out, Tricia--you've got some 3 to 5-year-old artistic competition at my preschool, because Jim Averbeck's new book inspires all.

Having first discovered this book at the library, my two preschool-age girls quickly claimed this as their favorite book. It's an expertly crafted children's book, as it delicately and eloquently leads children (of all ages!) to bedtime with rich, sensory images that linger long after the book is closed. With a remarkable economy of words, Jim Averbeck somehow manages to paint the most calming, yet vivid images of soothing sleepytime rituals, accompanied perfectly by Tricia Tusa's beautiful illustrations. With the scent and sight of orange tea cooling in a brown cup, or the sound of silver bells in the window, it seems that every image can be touched, seen, heard, or tasted. Kids truly get it, even as young as my just-turned-three-year-old. Within days of reading this book to them, both of my daughters were reciting every word---truly enjoying the sounds of the words, as well as the images they brought to mind.

In a world full of sensory overload of all the wrong kinds . . . toys that flash, scream incessant songs at our kids, and basically take the imagination out of play . . . this book truly takes it all back to the place where imagination lives and breathes. In A Blue Room has the type of lingering beauty and gentle spirit that will make it a classic in children's literature for years to come.

A mother patiently and tenderly sees her little one off to sleep with fragrant flowers on the nightstand, a cozy quilt , and wind chimes. The little girl only likes the color blue and protests at each offering of tea, the quilts, flowers because they are not blue. When the mother turns off the light though, the moon fills the room with a beautiful blue light that Tricia Tusa renders in a soft blue wash.

Averbeck's text rocks as gently as a lullaby as Tusa's scenes grow quieter and quieter.
What a treasure.

A family can never have enough bedtime books, especially when the days are long and light and little ones ask for "Just one more. Please?" In San Francisco author Jim Averbeck's picture book, young Alice begins by bouncing up to the ceiling, proclaiming, "I can only sleep in a blue room."

Mama brings fragrant lilacs and lilywhites and soothing tea, covers Alice with a comfy quilt and hangs chimes by the window. None of these are blue, yet they soothe Alice more and more on every page. And when Mama turns out the light, "... in comes the moon, bathing everything in its pale blue light." Magically, Alice falls fast asleep in her blue room.

Averbeck's minimal, quiet text is gloriously rendered by Tusa's vibrant illustrations. A bedtime star indeed.

[Review originally appeared in the Palo Alto Weekly, 7/9/08]

Sweet story of a little girl, Alice, who is up well past her bedtime. Alice proclaims that she can "only sleep in a blue room."
Mother, however, brings all sorts of sleepy-time things (which are not blue) but somehow manage to help Alice begin to feel sleepy - orange tea, white flowers, etc.
Then, when the lights are out, and the moon shines into Alice's room, she might end up with just what she wanted to begin with :)

Not only is this a great bed-time story, but its a great introduction to the five senses, too.

The story of Alice, who can't fall asleep and asks her mother for things that are blue, is wonderful writing. It is poetic and heartfelt. It is perfect. Throw in the magical illustrations of Tricia Tusa and it is over the top. Tusa wraps Averbeck's words into the perfect blue ending. Recommended for everyone.

You know that feeling you have when you're a fan of something (could be an artist, television show, songwriter, you name it) and they just don't seem to be getting enough attention? And on the one hand that makes you a little happy because now you have a secret special somebody or something that's yours and yours alone. And on the other hand you love this thing or person and you want it to get acknowledged. You want other people to see what you see and to appreciate what you appreciate. Well, I've been like that for years with illustrator Tricia Tusa. I watched her illustrate How to Make a Night and Fred Stays With Me!. I observed her clever paperback covers for Eleanor Estes' Moffat series. I bit my nails and waited for her to be paired with just the right author at just the right time. Someone who could give her a meaty text that perfectly complemented her charm. Enter first time picture book author Jim Averbeck. Pair his gentle bedtime tones to Tusa's images and what you're left with is the best bedtime tale I've read in many years.

Alice is wide-awake and bouncing on the bed when her mother enters. After informing her mom that the only way she'll be able to fall asleep is in a blue room (and the yellow walls make THAT pretty unlikely) her patient mother brings in different items one by one. There are lilacs and lilywhites for scent. There is tea in a cup for taste, a silky soft quilt for touch, and lullaby bells for sound. Finally, just as Alice begins to drift off to sleep, her mother turns out the light. The light of the moon comes in "bathing everything in its pale blue light." Everything now the same color, Alice sleeps soundly in her room turned blue at last.

I am sure, I am certain, I am left without so much as a droplet of doubt that there is a child in this country who will pick up this book, look at the cover, and announce (not without a note of self-satisfaction), "That room's not blue!" Well done, child. You are correct to some extent. The repeated assurance that Alice is in a blue room will confuse some people initially, but I think our kids are smart enough to realize that the blue is coming, even if it isn't THERE at all times. Mr. Averbeck has also somehow hit upon the perfect number of words per page. There are never too many and there are never too few. Told entirely in the present tense, it melds colors, the five senses, and repetition (the ultimate comfort to a child) in a rhythmic series. You feel safe in Averbeck's world.

Sometimes at my library someone will come in and ask for a book of the five senses for their kids. I'll hand them the usual Aliki My Five Senses fare, but just for kicks it's sometimes fun to also give them a picture book that drills each sense home. Averbeck's book does this, and I suspect it may also inspire some parents to start similar bedtime routines. Maybe they'll start bringing in flowers for bedtime scents, or maybe a jazz CD for the sounds (the Blues?). There is something remarkably peaceful about this book too. I like to think that maybe it has something to do with the quality of the blue Tusa chose for the ending. It's that blue/gray color you get on certain moonlit evenings. With the white white stars and the single moon shedding its light on the front of the house, the combination of these images with Averbeck's soothing words is near hypnotic. This is the kind of book children dwell on and remember, long after they've forgotten. If you know what I mean.

Ms. Tusa's illustrations are rendered here in ink, watercolor, and gouache. She does quite a lot with shadows and light, two aspects of her paintings that I've never really noticed before. The bright lamplight manages to convey in its starkness the dark outside. And as always, her characters are key. When Alice's Mama sits on the bed beside her daughter, you can see her weight there. Her physical presence. I also enjoyed the little details in the book, like the fact that the stars and moons on Alice's blanket slip out of the room when she falls asleep and into the dark night sky. Finally, those last shots of Alice's house perched on the top of the earth are beautifully haunting.

What's the market like these days for a good bedtime story? Probably pretty good. As a child, I always enjoyed those books that took place at night. Stories like Sam and the Firefly that really knew how to play around with evening light. In terms of gifts, I've already given a copy of this book away to a friend of mine who had a baby shower. There isn't a person alive who won't love what Averbeck and Tusa have done here. I hope Harcourt will pair the two of them together again someday so that we can see more books like this one on our shelves. Lovely in every sense of the word.

Can't state this enough - this book is precious. It's written beautifully and illustrated magnificently. My daughter has a copy but I keep buying these to all of our friends who have baby girls. It's relaxing and fantastic.