Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 03/15/2023 *Starred Review* Blair serves us a gentler take on Where the Wild Things Are in his blue-toned tale of a sleepless boy’s nighttime adventure. With thoughts of tentacles and closet monsters dancing in his head, Watson’s round eyes are as open as can be, despite him being tucked into a cozy bed. Just as a wish to be “anywhere else but here” flits through his head, a light glows from beneath his blanket. He tentatively lifts the blanket and discovers an entirely new world, its pillowy, star-studded sky propped up by long sticks. The stars illuminate a winding path, which Watson—cat stuffie in hand—begins to follow because he’s not sleepy after all. Odd, charming details unfold as Watson wanders through the slumberland, cast in teals, mauve, and deep indigo and shaded with crosshatching, where he discovers a forest populated by strange (but friendly!) creatures. The journey becomes increasingly fantastic as the boy ventures on, becoming ever more tired in the process. Eventually, he crawls from beneath the night tent and back into his bed, where he falls immediately to sleep. The artwork in this imaginative bedtime tale will captivate little ones with its peculiar, dreamlike details. It also sidesteps being scary, offering comfort in the wonders that the night can bring. - Copyright 2023 Booklist.