Venetian Lullaby

by Judith L. Roth, Kendra Binney (Illustrator)

Overview

The sounds of lapping water and dipping oars ease readers into the famous canals of Venice, Italy. With mother as gondolier and father singing his calming song to baby, a family floats serenely through this one-of-a-kind historic city, past features as unusual as stone winged lions and golden masks and as comfortably familiar as babbling neighbors and drying laundry. The baby drifts deeper and deeper into Venice’s maze and—finally—sweet sleep.

Children cuddling on parents’ laps anywhere in the world will be blissfully transported to wondrous Venice before nap- or bedtime by this dreamy lullaby and its peaceful pastel illustrations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781645670841
Publisher:	Page Street Publishing
Publication date:	01/19/2021
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,097,472
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 10.40(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Judith L. Roth is an author and freelance writer who loves travel, chocolate, and being near water. She has bachelor’s degrees in both English and music, the latter of which helps her write more poetically. She has always dreamed of writing fiction for children. She lives in Elkhart, Indiana with her husband and three cats.

Kendra Binney is a self-taught artist and illustrator who paints her landscapes and characters with pastel washes and resin coatings to create memorable, fragile realities. Her inspiration comes largely from her upbringing wandering barefoot in a small mountain town. She now lives and works around Portland, Oregon.

Editorial Reviews

*"A pitch-perfect bedtime story, this is sure to conjure beautiful dreams." — School Library Journal, starred review

"The lovely lull of the moving gondola and sensory rhyme will soothe both readers and listeners." — Kirkus Reviews

"Adults and young ones will also appreciate the rocking rhythm throughout, not to mention the reassuring depiction of family love." — Booklist

"Wispy pastels mix with bold patterns to form a dreamlike rendering of the floating city in this transportive tale." — Foreword Reviews

From the Publisher

★ 02/01/2021

PreS-K—Enchanted watercolor clouds of winged lions, seahorses, and dragonflies float over the watery canals of Venice, blending with the voices of two parents singing their baby to sleep. Mother, a pale-skinned gondolier, navigates her family through the watery passages of Venice, as a brown-skinned father tenderly cradles and sings his baby a lullaby inspired by the sights and sounds of their surroundings. The rhythmic lullaby, like the lapping of the water beneath the gondola, carries the family past the bell tower and domes of St. Mark's Basilica and everyday life in Venice. Colorful curtains from open windows and laundry hung to dry dance in the wind. Racially diverse crowds of people mingle outside cafes and greet each other as they pass over bridges. Roth's love song for Venice magically blends with Binney's stunning acrylic, watercolor, and digital illustrations to bring this dreamy lullaby to life. The eyes of young and older readers alike will linger over each illustration, absorbing the magic of the dreamscape. Though the mother is ever present, the father's gentle love for his child is the focal point of this spellbinding story. VERDICT An exquisite and essential purchase for public libraries; a pitch-perfect bedtime story, this is sure to conjure beautiful dreams.—Emily Brush, Novi P.L., MI

School Library Journal

2020-09-29
Start the rocking chair in a gentle rhythm and snuggle up for a soothing naptime read and a bit of armchair traveling.

To help her young child fall asleep, a gondoliera mother poles the father and child on a soothing ride through Venice’s canals, complete with general city sights and sounds like nesting pigeons, a sleeping cat, and a dog in a window, as well as uniquely Venetian details like a gondolier singing, people chatting on bridges, lion sculptures, and curtains billowing out over the canals. Each spread contains one four-line stanza, most in an abcb pattern, including suggestive sleepy-time thoughts (“Boatman’s gonna sing, baby. / Close your sleepy eyes”) or sensory imagery (“Float like kites of drying laundry / lifting in the air”). Layered realistic illustrations in muted watery shades include a flowing thread of transparent, mostly water-based dream images that begin with hints of a starry sky. As the ride progresses and the child grows sleepier, the dream subtext becomes more detailed, illustrations featuring lions, fanciful seahorses, birds, dragonflies, fish, and merpeople. Although the text says it’s “time to take a nap,” the final illustrations show a nighttime sky suggesting that this might be a bedtime tale instead. Mother and baby have pale skin, and the father is tanned; general street scenes include people of color.

The lovely lull of the moving gondola and sensory rhyme will soothe both readers and listeners. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews