In a Blue Room

A young girl named Alice is determined only to fall asleep in a blue room in this lovely bedtime story, but is gradually won over by her mother's gifts, and calm assurance. Lilacs and lilywhites aren't blue, but she finds their delicious scent very relaxing. Tea isn't blue, but the comforting orange liquid makes her drowsy. The quilt isn't blue, but it's soft and cozy. The lullaby bells aren't blue, but their peaceful chiming sends her into slumber... just as the moon rises, and bathes the world in blue.

In a Blue Room is a charming pean to the rituals of bedtime, and the special customs of childhood. Soothing and gentle, it lulls the reader, just as Alice herself is lulled. Jim Averbeck's narrative is seamless, and Tricia Tusa's artwork show more - created with ink, watercolor and gouache - soft and appealing. I don't know that it was intentional, but I especially liked the broadening sense of perspective, at the end of the book, and the feeling that Alice is indeed sleeping in a blue room - the blue "room" of space. show less

I've recently discovered the combination of the author Jim Averbeck and the lovely, winesome illustrations by Tricia Tusa

I'll be looking for more books of this combination.

This book is a wonderful combination of beauty and the words coming together in this lovely book.

I highly recommended this one!

A young girl is obsessed with the color blue. Insisting she cannot sleep, unless the entire room is blue,examines the way in which a mother calmly talkes to her daughter and listens, but also sets limits.

In the end, the issues are solved by appreciation of nature.

A girl insists she can only fall asleep in a blue room, while her mother brings other-colored things to help soothe her to sleep - each focusing on a different sense. The turning point comes when the lights go off and the moonlight bathes everything blue. Nicely rendered.

I love the book, “In a Blue Room!” In my opinion, the book does a great job of using repetition to make the central message of the book apparent to its readers. The central message of the book is that Alice cannot fall asleep unless her room is blue. The central message relates to the idea that sometimes our troubles work themselves out without us needing to solve them ourselves. In the story Alice can’t fall asleep without her room being completely blue, but by the sky turning to night her room automatically turns blue without Alice having to do anything herself. Another aspect that I liked about this book is the way the words are arranged on the page. The words on the page are split up on each page with each sentence being about show more four or five short lines/phrases. For example, one page says, “In a blue room, orange tea, cools in a brown cup. Alice takes a sip, then rubs her drowsy eyes. This page was split up into two sentences, but the two sentences were a total of 5 lines. I feel that by splitting up the sentences into phrases and using lots of punctuation the author sets the book in a dreamy, night-time like mood which closely relates to the theme of the book. The theme of the book is revolved around Alice falling asleep. A third thing that I liked about this book is all of the dialogue included in it. Most of the story is told through dialogue between Alice and her mother about falling asleep and blue things. In my opinion, by making most of the text in the story dialogue, the author did a great job of making the reader feel as if they were there observing the story. I also feel that by including a lot of dialogue, the story has a more informal mood to it, which invites readers to feel as if they are a part of the story. show less

Little kid going to bed is given lots of things to help her by her mama. She wants everything to be blue! and imagines it thusly. Her initial demands, and the way she is able to adapt to reality with some imagination, feels very true to life.[return][return]Not much to this, but it's a sweet going-to-bed book, and affirming of parental caretaking.

A short and gentle bedtime story about Alice, a little girl who wants everything to be blue before she goes to bed. Her kind and inventive mother, however, coaxes her with with fragrant white lilacs and lilywhites, warm orange tea, and a silky-soft quilt of red and green. And as she drifts off to sleep, "off goes the lamp and in comes the moon, bathing everything in its pale blue light." The pen and watercolor illustrations are softly colored with soft edges and a slight hint of whimsy, as in the painting of Alice floating down to her bed with her makeshift blue parachute. A very pretty book.

Little kid going to bed is given lots of things to help her by her mama. She wants everything to be blue! and imagines it thusly. Her initial demands, and the way she is able to adapt to reality with some imagination, feels very true to life.

Not much to this, but it's a sweet going-to-bed book, and affirming of parental caretaking.