Dark Sparkle Tea

by Tim J. Myers

In some ways, bedtime brings out the best of parent and child. I don't mean that it's always a time of quiet sharing and affection; anyone with kids knows it's often more like herding cats. At age four, my daughter Cassie would describe herself, with unconscious accuracy, as "still wild awake." But for all that, it's essentially a ritual of love and comfort-and all the goodness comes together when we read to our children before they sleep.

That's why I wrote "Dark-Sparkle Tea," and why I included poems to match all of a child's bedtime moods. Kids need, of course, a sense of safety andcoziness I remember how our son Nick, as a four-year-old, once woke up screaming, "Night is never-ending! Night is never-ending!" But children
are also open, as always, to humor, curiosity, and wonder. Nick once asked me, "Dad, do you think there's such a thing as aliens-do you think they have such a thing as alien hamsters?" And kids inevitably want, of course,
to be entertained our son Seth once responded to a couple of lecture-like sentences of mine with, "Don't tell me again, Dad my ears get stale."

Sharp and sassy as they can be, though, they're also suckers for the lyrical when they're in the right mood-as Nick was when he wrote, "I wish the map you could jump into and return to the real world." Or when Cassie, wearing a party hat, announced herself as the "Queen Brave Rainbow Unicorn named Jennifer!" In these poems I promise you the riches of bedtime. I promise a rock-and-roll hamster and the royal land of dreams-snuggling up with a lovable lion and planning future adventures-a crazy sleepwalker and the
ease of sleepy bees-affectionate skunks and a worthy
watchdog-silliness-sleepiness-cricket song-and all of it sprinkled with moon and stars. And it's my fervent hope that neither your ears nor your child's will get stale.

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2006

About the author

Tim J. Myers is a writer, songwriter, storyteller, and lecturer at Santa Clara University in Silicon Valley. His"Glad to Be Dad: A Call to Fatherhood" is out from Familius and "Nectar of Story: Poems" from BlazeVox. He has 15 children's books out and one on the way. His children’s books have won recognition from the New York Times, NPR, the Smithsonian, Nickelodeon, and others. He’s published over 130 poems, won a first prize in a poetry contest judged by John Updike, has a poetry chapbook out, won a major prize in science fiction, was nominated for two Pushcarts, and has published much other fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. He recently won the West Coast Songwriters Saratoga Chapter Song of the Year award. His website is www.TimMyersStorySong.com, his YouTube channel is at https://www.youtube.com/user/TimJMyers, and he can whistle and hum at the same time.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little goodnight fun! (I imagine this book beside one of my picture books: While You are Sleeping by Alexis Deacon as a nighttime ritual for young children). Especially for the deal making youngster ("just one more story", "can i have a glass of water")- sure to calm any fears of nighttime. In "Night Visitor" a young child is visited by a lion- who snuggles peacefully beside the sleeper like a brother!

In the classroom, this story could be used with preschoolers and early elementary students in talking about routines and rituals. This universal book is filled with rhyme and rhythm.

[Tim Myers]

It's bedtime--and while adults want kids to go to sleep, kids usually want to stay up! This book of bedtime poems will appeal to both, since it has funny, crazy, energetic poems as well as snooze-worthy one. Sweet dreams!

[Michelle Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful! The graphics and story were amazing! Definitely a fun read!

[Tweller83 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. I liked these bedtime poems and could picture me reading them to a youngin. Illustration is wonderfully done by Kelley Cunningham.