PB Review: Teddy's Midnight Adventure
Teddy's Midnight Adventure by Yoko Mori, transl. by Cathy Hirano (Pushkin Children's Books, 32p., ages 3-7, 9781782694014)
In the enchanting, ethereal
Teddy's Midnight Adventure, one young girl and her stuffie experience the magic of a moonlit night as they search for Teddy's lost eye.
Akiko and Teddy are playing outside until Akiko's mother calls the girl in. That's when "Teddy's eye pop[s] off and sail[s] through the air." Akiko searches, but the eye doesn't turn up. She lovingly wraps a bandage around Teddy's head and wishes she was "as small as Teddy" so she might "walk under the grass and look for it." That night, Akiko wakes to find that she is indeed very small. She leads Teddy outside and they hunt for the eye, though at first, it's nowhere to be found. The "trilling" bell crickets, Mee-chan the cat, and sleeping Mrs Crow are no help, but after a sudden rainfall Akiko and Teddy find toadstools, "balloon-like" puffball fungi, and "a forest of glowing mushrooms." By the light of these magical lamps, Akiko spots Teddy's eye. When she wakes the next morning, Akiko is "back to her normal size," and Teddy's eye is "back on his face, just like always."
Yoko Mori's story depicts what could be any child's dream: a post-bedtime adventure that transforms the comforting realm of the everyday into fantasy. Hirano's gentle translation fully expresses the magic and sweetness in Mori's picture book. Detailed gray-scale illustrations feature pops of red to highlight Akiko's clothes and the wonderful glowing mushrooms. The intricate, accomplished, often whimsical art fills Mori's nighttime world with glamour. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author.
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