Chelsea Morning

by Joni Mitchell, Brian Froud (Illustrator)

Dreamy creatures frolic as a young girl awakens to a smiling sun, passes the day with various pixies, and eventually says goodnight to a moon enchantress.

Genres: Picture Books, Music, Art, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Joni Mitchell, CC is a reknowned Canadian musician, songwriter, and painter.

Reviews

[Phoenix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super cute rendition of Joni Mitchell's song. About as cute as I'll allow myself to consume for fae content, but Froud brings his distinctive weirdness to the table for rendering a unique variety of faeries and scenes for Chelsea Morning's lyrics. I could see how this would be really fun to read as a school librarian with a bright young class or as a parent with a musically-inclined child.

[midnightfaerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Click here for the Midnightfaerie’s Review

[K.S. Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joni Mitchell and Brian Froud. Who would have thought to pair the two? I am so glad they did. This is an absolutely beautiful book, so thoughtfully given to me by a friend and will be a treasured part of my library. Although it is short, one can easily lose themselves for hours in the illustrations while listening to the song on repeat. A lovely way to spend some time and reconnect.

[Kai Charles(Fiction State Of Mind) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrated book with the lyrics from the classic song with many touches of the Fae in each page.

[Jaimie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The mark of a well dne children's book is when the illustrations and words are so intertwined that neither is complete without the other; both are required for a fully enjoyable read, and the contemplation of one can leade to new insights on the other. Unfortunately, I don't feel like this collaborative effort has hit the mark. The song lyrics and illustrations are perfect individually, but there is a distinct distance between them that makes the whole book quite disjointed. I think the major problem is that Froud chose to illustrate each verse separately, and with very literal interpretations of each. This resulted in very few of the illustrations matching eachother's colour scheme, contents, or layout, so the reader has no segway between pictures. The lyrics of the song may tell a story, but the pictures are a touch too much of a random assortment for them to be a proper compliment. At least they are beautifully done when viewed on their own!

[Larissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

With every new day comes the appreciation and pleasures of the simple things in life like milk, honey and rainbows. The sights and sounds of the everyday create music and wonders' demonstrating how magical an ordinary morning really is, filled with joy, faeries and new possibilities. Affectionate, light and playful, it is a perfect story to start your day by or just brighten your day with.

Chelsea Morning brings together Joni Mitchell's classic song with the liveliness of faeries as only Brian Froud can portray them. The Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter Joni Mitchell teams up with award-winning illustrator Brian Froud to create this light and dreamy coupling of music and imagery. Brian's images give Joni's words form and new life in this, Brian's first children's book in decades. This bright yet sweet book is inspirational in a beautifully innocent and naive way.

[Sheherazahde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brian Froud illustrates Joni Mitchell's lyrics. The book includes a CD of the song sung by Joni Mitchell. [return][return]The illustrations are bright show Froud's usual whimsy. A good book to read along with the song.