A Starlit Trip to the Library

A Starlit Trip to the Library begins with a young girl, Julia, and her animal friends camping in the forest, happily anticipating their favorite activity: reading a bedtime story at the end of the night. However, on this night, Julia accidentally forgets her book at home, and, for a moment, it seems the group will have a hard time falling asleep. Luckily, Julia’s bear friend Bertrand arrives down the river in his boat and volunteers to take the group to the best “book scavenging spot”, i.e. the library. Though the group is initially scared to venture through the woods at night, Bertrand reassures them, saying he will use the stars to navigate, a time-honoured tradition his grandparents embraced, looking for familiar shapes of animals in the stars. While stargazing, Bertrand accidentally steers them into a rock, causing Abigail’s homemade flower crown to fall into the water before being retrieved through teamwork.

When the group arrives at the library, Bertrand steers them behind the building where there are many boxes of books the librarians have left outside, and the group begin scouring them for a bedtime story. Their search is interrupted suddenly by the arrival of Olga, an owl and “night librarian”, busily organizing the books the “day team” have left in disarray. Olga listens patiently to the group’s requirements for the perfect bedtime tale before selecting them a book that fits them all. Inviting them to return anytime they’re in need of a book, Olga bids the group farewell as they return to Bertrand’s boat and he sails them down the river back to their campsite. Along the way, Julia cracks open the book and tells the group a story, eventually reading “very softly at the end” as her friends have all fallen asleep. Following the story, the book features several pages expanding on the real life “animals among the stars” and the practice of star navigation, as well as the lyrics to “Julia’s song” written by Andrew Katz.

A Starlit Trip to the Library continues the collaboration of writing partners Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel who bring with them the characters of Julia and her animal friends from their previous story, How to Catch a Bear Who Loves to Read. Julia’s dialogue is naturalistic for a child her age while the bear Bertrand speaks like a classic literary character, throwing in phrases like “Elementary, my dear Julia” and “Indubitably!“ to complete his bookish persona. While there may be too much text for younger child readers, older ones still wanting a bedtime read-along will enjoy the quick pacing of Julia’s adventure to find her own perfect story.

Joseph Sherman’s illustrations capture different textures well (the animals’ tails, smoke from the campfire and Julia’s hair to name a few) giving the story a lived-in, approachable quality. The predominance of soothing blue and purple shades also set the stage for a comforting bedtime story.

Katz and Léveillé-Trudel’s story celebrates books, libraries, the act of storytelling and the comfort of a well-told bedtime tale, even if its audience falls asleep before it’s over.