When night falls my bed is an air balloon. I sail through the slipsiverse, close by the moon. I float above treetops where fluttertufts are sleeping And flowering hills where the whifflepigs go creeping; Ponds strung with starlight that glitter like glass, A floog with her velvet nose bent to the grass. Such treasures I spy on! My bed in the trees Swings me up high, like a circus trapeze. Now the cool, night-rustling air Slips through my finger-gaps, ripples my hair; Now we glide over water, the moon's silver light Blown by a cloudpuff into the bight, Adrift on the sea where the dream-shapes float; When night falls my bed is a sailing boat. A beautifully presented picture book with two front covers, the text can be read from front to back and vice versa. The mirror form poem meets in the middle in a stunning centrepiece image as the two children in the story (twins, one in an air balloon, the other a sailing boat) meet in the clouds!

 

 

This book has been graded for interest for readers up to 5 years.

There are 32 pages in this book.

This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+).

This book was published in 2018 by Faber & Faber .

Julia Copus was born in London, near to the Young Vic theatre, and now lives in Somerset. She has won First Prize in the National Poetry Competition and the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem (2010). She also writes for radio; her first play, Eenie Meenie Macka Racka, was awarded the BBC's Alfred Bradley prize. She is a Lector for the Royal Literary Fund, and in 2008 was made an Honorary Fellow at the University of Exeter. Harry & Lil is her debut picture book. Alison Jay's signature style, which features distinctive crackle varnishing, has also been featured in Barefoot Books titles Listen, Listen and I Took the Moon for a Walk.