Good Night, Hattie, My Dearie, My Dove

Schertle, Alice

ISBN 10: 0688160239 ISBN 13: 9780688160234

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2002

Synopsis

After following her ten toys in a parade through the house, Hattie explains why each of them needs to sleep with her in her bed, in a bedtime tale first published in 1985.

About this title

About the Author:

"When I was very young," says Alice, "perhaps three or four, I remember sitting with a heavy book in my lap, running my fingers down the printed pages, puzzling over how adults could translate those strange squiggly symbols into the wonderful stories and poems they read to me. Eventually, I did unlock the secret of the squiggles, and I haven't stopped reading since.

Alice reads anything and everything, Fiction and nonfiction, but there is a special place in her heart for poetry. "There are things a poem can say that cannot be expressed as effectively in any other way. I love to rind a poem that shows me something, creates an image, perhaps, that is so startling, so original, so unique only one particular poet could have thought of it. But at the same time, the image, the idea, is so true, so right, that I rind myself saying, 'Yes! I knew that!"'

Alice Schertle is the author of more than forty books for children. Several of the most recent are collections of poetry. "One of the few things as wonderful as reading a good poem is writing one," she says. "I find writing poetry difficult, absorbing, frustrating, satisfying, maddening, intriguing.... I love it. If, at the END

of a day of pondering, discarding, rewriting line after line, I can read my poem and say to myself, 'This one works, 'It's been a good day."

When she isn't writing poetry, Alice is often working on picture books. She sometimes writes the ending first. "I love to bring a story full circle in a logical and satisfying way," she explains. "I sometimes think of a concluding scene or paragraph or phrase, and build a whole story leading up to it. The plot doesn't have to be extremely dramatic; sometimes very simple situations make the best stories. But familiar or extraordinary, real or imaginary, I hope the stories I write say something both honest and encouraging about people and life and the world we live in. If they provide a chuckle or two along the way, so much the better."

On the days when she isn't writing, Alice may lace up a pair of boots and go hiking all day in the mountains. On other days she can often be found visiting schools, talking to classes about the joys of reading and writing poetry and Fiction. A graduate of the University of Southern California and a former elementary school teacher, she has three grown children -- Jenny, Katie, and John.

Alice Schertle claims the best way to rind out what she is like is by reading her books, but if more clues are needed, she offers the following list of things she loves: "My family, unusual words, my hiking boots, any kind of squash, old movies, autumn, and cows."

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 2-Hattie and her nine stuffed dolls march through the living room as her mother plays the piano and her father watches the parade. Finally, the little girl and her parents carry the toys upstairs and put them away. But as Hattie settles into bed, she notices that one stuffed animal is cold, another is afraid of the dark, yet another is uncomfortable and will snore, and so on. Eventually, all of them find their way into her bed, and the bedtime ritual is complete. This sweet story describes a situation familiar to most families. The repetitive refrain, "Good night, Hattie, my dearie, my dove," and the reactions of the child's parents to her requests convey a sense of warmth and family togetherness. In addition, the text and art work together to put emphasis on number recognition and gently encourage children to develop and use counting skills. Though the text remains the same, this newly illustrated edition of the 1985 book (Lothrop; o.p.) has a very different look. The artwork, done in grease pencil and transparent watercolor, is brighter and more colorful. The figures are also more proportional and expressive, and abundant use of white space lends an open, spacious quality that was lacking in the original. Much more successful than its predecessor, this multifaceted book is a worthy addition to picture-book collections.
Heather E. Miller, Homewood Public Library, AL
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0688160239
• ISBN 13: 9780688160234
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Rand Ted