Tell Me About Your Day Today

Tell Me About Your Day Today by Mem Fox, illustrations by Lauren Stringer (Scholastic Australia)
HB RRP $24.99
ISBN 978-1-74283– 578-5
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

This is a bedtime story about a boy who loves to go to bed. After his last kiss, story and goodnight, he asks his soft toy friends about their day. Then he tells them about his.

Tell Me About Your Day Today is a stunning book. Mem Fox is a brilliant story teller and I would place this one amongst my favourites. It is a perfect example of how the illustrations can speak as clearly as the text does. And Lauren Stringer does this masterfully with gentle and soft pictures which portray emotions, relationships and quiet humour. Bold and bright colours that glow on the page create a surprisingly a warm and cosy atmosphere.

This is a positive bedtime story. The ritual embedded in the bedtime routine and the repetitive nature of the ask-and-answer about the day’s events reinforces how children learn and act. Young children love repetition and find it comforting and reassuring. And talking about the day’s events is one way they can process all that has happened to them. This is a great message to convey to children.

This fabulous story is full of imagination and is entertaining and humorous. Children will relate to the bedtime routine and to the interaction with the soft toys as friends. Most children will have a ‘Greedy Goose’, or a ‘Blue Horse’, or ‘Fat Rabbit’ to sleep with.

Many young children like to have the same story read every night for a period of weeks and this one would be enjoyable to read over and over again. I loved this book, from the ‘boy who loved bedtime’ to the Fat Rabbit with the band-aid on his bottom. I would highly recommend it to all who have young children to read stories to. I can see many children taking the cue from this boy and talking to their bed buddies about their day before they go off to sleep.

Mem Fox is a highly regarded picture book author. She has written over 35 picture books and is very popular among children and their parents and other older readers.

Lauren Stringer has illustrated many picture books, including The Princess and Her Panther by Wendy Orr. Her bright bold style characterised by a gentle glowing quality is recognisable in all her illustrations.