Before I Say Goodnight

Reviewed: May 21, 2004
By: Julia Porter / illustrations by Patricia Pearsall
Publisher: Key Porter Books
24 pages, $24.95

Before I Say Goodnight is a story about dreams and how to get to them, written by a young woman who was working with terminally ill children when she wrote it. In the story, a young child of somewhat indeterminate gender is settling down for the night and thinking about all the things he (just for the sake of convenience) might like to dream about.

"Before I say 'goodnight' this night, I'll shut my eyes and close them tight.
I'll think of all the things I've done, All before the setting sun."

Well, a good many of the things she's (okay - equal opportunity) done can only have taken place in the imagination, however much they might have been inspired by reality. We are quickly taken from climbing trees to piloting spacecraft, racing sea serpents and dancing on the tops of trees.

It's a pleasant adventure and one that should set any him or her up for a good night's sleep.

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