Take Heart, My Child: A Mother's Dream

by J#x000FC;rgen M#x000FC;ller, Kathryn Cristaldi, Gisela P#x000F6;plau (Illustrator)

Overview

In the tradition of Emily Winfield Martin’s The Wonderful Things You Will Be and Nancy Tillman’s On The Night You Were Born, popular FOX news anchor Ainsley Earhardt’s lyrical lullaby inspires children to follow their dreams and passions.

FOX and Friends cohost Ainsley Earhardt’s debut picture book shares precious life lessons parents can pass onto their children so that they can follow their hearts, dreams, and passions.

Take Heart, My Child is a lyrical lullaby, and Ainsley shares her own hopes and dreams, and lets her child know that whatever challenges life brings, “Take heart, my child, I will—or, my love will—always be there for you.” It’s a universal message, one that all readers will relate to.

In the “Story Behind the Story,” Ainsley talks about growing up and how her father would write messages to her and her siblings each morning, leaving notes at the breakfast table, so that his children would know they were loved, empowered, protected, and cherished.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481466226
Publisher:	Aladdin
Publication date:	11/15/2016
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	82,340
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Ainsley Earhardt is a journalist who is the cohost of FOX and Friends. Earhardt is an anchor and correspondent for the Fox News Channel and Earhardt also reports for FOX’s The Sean Hannity Show with her own segment called “Ainsley Across America.” She was the former cohost for Fox & Friends First and has also cohosted FOX and Friends Weekend, FOX’s All-American New Year’s Eve, America’s News Headquarters, been a panelist on The Live Desk and appeared on Greg Gutfeld’s Red Eye.

Jaime (Jimyung) Kim was born and raised in Korea and moved to the United States when she was eighteen. Jaime works with gouache and acrylics to create illustrations inspired by childhood memories of her family, as well as movies, art, and the outside world. The sun, the moon, the sky, and stars are her favorite things, which is why they always appear in her artwork.

Editorial Reviews

09/19/2016
In her debut children’s book, Fox & Friends cohost Earhardt assumes the voice of a mother expressing her hopes for her daughter, advising her child to take risks and be independent. In a sequence of vignettes, the story moves from the sea to the forest and into the night sky, initially described in fanciful terms: “Before you were born/ Before you shared my day/ I dreamed a love song/ Near a grand deer ballet,” reads one spread as newcomer Kim shows a young woman and six deer prancing through a field. The light-dappled illustrations play well with the text’s ethereal references to nature, alternating between images of the mother-to-be on her own and ones of her daughter swinging from a tree, peering at the moon through a telescope, and flying a kite on the beach. Though the advice can be syrupy or overfamiliar (“May you take the high road/ Through the road may be long/ Pledge to follow your heart/ So your heart will grow strong”), Earhardt’s you-can-do-it message is consistently encouraging. Ages 4–8. Illustrator’s agent: Claire Easton, Painted Words. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Expressed in tender poetic form and with striking watercolor illustrations, this warm offering captures poignant loving affection from a mother to her child. Little ones hear prayer-like verses of a mother’s promises before the wondrous birth, as if in her own dream, to provide and protect the child during early life and in later years. This touching dream in fact is spoken to the child even before the baby’s arrival. Grand symbolism is further expressed through nature’s bounty in lovely graphic renditions to bring a mother’s heartfelt emotions directly to every reader. Many of the lines encourage children to dream big, to not be afraid, and to be bold, courageous, hopeful, and strong when struggling. Most importantly, the author and mother encourages, know that “I will always be near.” The primary theme, “Take heart!” is laced through the poem and is a powerful reminder from John 16:33. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book is donated to Folds of Honor, an organization that provides scholarships and assistance to families of fallen American soldiers. Reviewer: Susan Treadway; Ages 3 to 7.

Children's Literature - Susan Treadway

Sept. 5, 2016
A mother’s poem to her newborn child by Earhardt, one of FOX News Channel’s co-hosts of Fox & Friends, with the assistance of Cristaldi.In a series of mostly quatrain stanzas, a mother encourages her child to dive into life and not lose heart at the roadblocks ahead. Unfortunately the poem is a never-ending succession of stale platitudes: “May you never grow tired / Of stretching your branches / Dare to be different / Don’t deny second chances” is followed, predictably, by “And when winter comes / And leaves fall and fade / Take heart, my child, / Don’t be afraid.” Likewise, the nominally freeing “May you strive to be happy / Change your course if you’re not / Embrace the world’s colors / Colors others forgot” is again followed by its predictable counterpart: “But if you grow lonely / Or stars disappear / Take heart, my child, / I will always be near.” Much of the imagery feels driven more by the need to fit scansion and rhyme than sense, as when the narrator describes dreaming “a love song / Near a grand deer ballet” (rhyming with “day”). Kim’s luminous watercolor-and-digital illustrations feature a dark-haired, light-skinned woman in ethereal surroundings, presumably the mother dreaming her hopes for her child. The child is also there at times, as is plenty of nature that goes hand in hand with the accompanying text. Beautiful illustrations, though, are not enough to breathe life into this well-meaning but trite poem.This treacle-sweet book feels like an extended greeting card. (author’s note) (Picture book. 6-10)

Kirkus Review