Debi Gliori

With a delightful rhyming text that is meant to both entertain and reassure - "Then should the oceans roar and rise / and dark clouds race across the skies / I'd hold you tight and close and warm / and keep you safe all through the storm. / If thunder tore the night in two / and lightning played at peekaBOO, / we'd watch the storm pass overheard, / then curl up safe and snug in bed." - and colorful watercolor and ink illustrations in her trademark style, Debi Gliori's Stormy Weather is a show more charming bedtime book, ideally suited for soothing childhood fears, when the weather outside is stormy.

The creator of No Matter What - one of my all-time favorite reassurance tales - Gliori triumphs again in this lovely follow up, which seems to feature the same foxy parent-child duo. I simply adore Gliori's artwork, which somehow manages to be entirely cute - I loved all the images of parent animals enfolding their offspring in protective embraces - without ever being precious. The color palette she uses work is deep, and the overall effect of the illustrations enchanting - paired with the reassuring narrative, this book is a winner! show less

The reviews on the back of this book tout it as "Harry Potter meets Lemony Snicket," but what a dismal disappointment it turned out to be. The book reeks of imitation; you can tell it's trying oh so hard to be the next big thing in kids' fantasy fiction. It fails miserably. The overly sarcastic style doesn't even come close to Snicket's intelligent humor, and the characters are perfect cardboard. I didn't care a bit for any of them, and didn't even finish the book. This book is pure dead show more boring, and I hope there won't be any more in the series. show less

Scots children's author and illustrator Debi Gliori - best known for her series of adorable picture-books featuring Mr. Bear, and for her series of spooky middle-grade fantasies about the Strega-Borgia family, which began with Pure Dead Magic - also happens to be the author of my all-time favorite reassurance tale, No Matter What. When Small, a little fox who feels "grim and grumpy," wrecks the living room, Large knows something is wrong, and a back-and-forth exchange begins, with Small show more posing a series of questions: Would Large still love her, if she were a bear? What about a squishy bug? The answer, of course, is always that Large will love her, "no matter what!"

Like so many books of its kind, from Guess How Much I Love You to Love You Forever, this is a story meant to reassure young children, to teach them that parental love is unconditional, and won't be withdrawn because they make a mistake, move away, or grow up. Unlike some of these other titles, however, Gliori's No Matter What is deliberately vague, when it comes to the gender of both parent and child - no pronouns, other than "you" are used in the text, and the illustrations are inconclusive - meaning that it can be interpreted in a variety of ways: as a mother-son, a mother-daughter, father-son, or father-daughter story, depending. The rhyming text itself is simple and sweet, making for a good read-aloud, and the adorable illustrations are colorful and appealing. All in all, it's a winner, and one I highly recommend to anyone looking for this type of story. show less

Goodnight World by Debi Gliori is a wonderful choice for a gentle, rhyming bedtime ritual. It's all about the whole world going to sleep: "Goodnight planet, goodnight world./ Peaceful clouds around Earth curled." We start with sweeping, panoramic illustrations that take you from the stratosphere and arctic ice all the way down to a cozy bedroom. I really enjoy how this book connects a child's toys—like little boats, ships, and animals—to the vast world outside. Note: Keep your eyes on show more the penguins! show less