Ophelia's Bedtime Book: A Collection of Poems to Read and Share - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670853100 ISBN 13: 9780670853106

Publisher: Viking Juvenile, 1994

Synopsis

Ophelia, the sophisticated and elegant bear, returns in a collection of bedtime poetry by Robert Louis Stevenson, Eleanor Farjeon, Eugene Fields, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Doubleday Children's Main.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

Sentimentality is the order of the day in this collection of 18 bedtime poems, each paired with an elaborately propped photograph of toy bear Ophelia and friends. Teacups and wooden blocks, flowers and old books, Victorian embroidery and the like decorate the old-fashioned poems. Eugene Field's "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod" is a typical selection, as are Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "Sweet and Low" and Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Land of Nod." The cluttered scenes burst with 19th-century accoutrements as toy bears appear in lacy nightgowns, wire-rimmed granny glasses, white bonnets or flower-bedecked hats. Rudyard Kipling's "Seal Lullaby," for example, accompanies a photo of a beribboned stuffed mouse who sits atop a mirrored globe balanced on the nose of a stuffed seal. Unfortunately, visual details like Ophelia's too-large glove and a small bear's oversized shoes sometimes ruin the overall effect, and the lasting impression is more of treacle than of genuine sweetness. Ages 3-8. Doubleday Children's Book Club main selection.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2-Ophelia, a teddy bear who has appeared in 3 other books by Clise, is featured in a collection of 18 bedtime poems, most by well-known authors. A few of the selections are seldom anthologized for children and are lovely, while others are not particularly distinctive. Photographs of Ophelia and other stuffed bears decorate the pages. The creamy paper, the golden glow of the pictures, and the settings and props used all contribute to a nostalgic mood. Overall, the volume's light look is rather unsuited to a book about nighttime. For an excellent collection of bedtime poems, try Nancy Larrick's When the Dark Comes Dancing (Philomel, 1983). Clise's title is for fans of Ophelia's previous books.
Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking Juvenile
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0670853100
• ISBN 13: 9780670853106
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Editor: Clise Michele Durkson