The Wee Hours
As a child dreams, fanciful sprites appear, bringing fun and frolic. The first small creature, a Wee Hour called One o’Clock, arrives in a starry swoosh, startling the green-eyed cat and swimming goldfish. He tumbles books off the shelves and reads them upside down, balancing on his belled cap. A curly-haired Two o’Clock empties the closet and drawers, dancing with a red sock on her head. Next, a top-hatted jockey frees the horses and performs jumping backflips, while another pulls down curtains and leads a parade of dinosaurs, her long hair whirling into a tornado. All flip, skip, and leap until Five o’Clock settles them down with whispered stories. The final Wee Hours clean up and put everything right, as all the sleeping child’s dreams are tucked peacefully away again. Each unique imp displays their number, and an analog alarm clock displays the hour, so the book works both to support counting and telling time. Pastel artwork in deep purples and blues, highlighted with a scatter of sparkling stars, packs each detailed full-color double-spread page in this whimsical bedtime story. Preschool-Kindergarten. --Lolly Gepson