Ruby's Sleepover

by Kathryn White, Miriam Latimer (Illustrator)

Overview

Ruby and Mai are camping out in the backyard. As the night draws in, all sorts of scary characters head towards their tent. Luckily, Ruby has some magical objects in her backpack, but will they be enough to keep the girls safe?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781846867583
Publisher:	Barefoot Books
Publication date:	08/28/2013
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	147,283
Product dimensions:	8.47(w) x 10.35(h) x 0.12(d)
Lexile:	AD670L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

Editorial Reviews

Ruby’s vibrant imagination is just as active in this companion to Ruby’s School Walk (2010), which finds the girl camping in the yard with her friend Mai. Satisfying rhymes describe imaginary visitors as darkness falls: “ ‘Did you see that shadow?’/ Mai trembles in fright./ I whisper, ‘A dragon is/ coming tonight.’ ” Latimer’s bold acrylics playfully experiment with shadow, light, and scale: a giant’s feet step along a towering beanstalk, while, in another scene, silhouetted pirates’ creep toward the girls’ glowing tent. A cozy depiction of the fun in being (just a little bit) scared. Ages 3–7. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Ready with her backpack of essential items and trusty vivid imagination, Ruby returns for another adventure (Ruby's School Walk, 2010)--of the backyard-at-night variety--with thrilling and eventually cozy results. Ruby's rhyming narrative is full of infectious enthusiasm: "I'm sleeping with Mai in my tent tonight, / When the moon is full and the stars are bright." Mai brings a teddy and a book, but Ruby brings her blue egg, colorful beans and two magical rings. Soon camping excitement turns to worry as rumbles and shadows and overactive imaginations produce fears of a fearsome giant, a fire-snorting dragon and pirates from "magical ships that sail from the moon." Luckily Ruby creatively uses her trove to vanquish the scary threats, and both girls tuck in for a dreamy sleep. While White's rhythmic text keeps the fantastical action flowing, Latimer uses acrylic paints and watercolor pencils to deftly portray every detail in the girls' real and make-believe moments. The pinkish-red tent draws the eye on most pages, but readers will pore over the smaller additions that pop in the otherwise darkish palette: a prowling mosquito, a cat prancing on the fence, Ruby's crocodile slippers, the howling foxes, a perched owl. The final page shows all the creatures and characters cuddled up together along the curves of a crescent moon. As the weather turns and young readers yearn to be outside, share this well-designed tale for a most satisfying ending to a good night. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews