This beautifully illustrated storybook by Mireille Levert is sure to capture your child's imagination. Levert's amusingly fantastical illustrations focus on the whimsical title track penned by Greg Brown and performed by all of the singers.A gaggle of stellar singers and musicians from Minnesota's roots rock label Red House Records convened to record quiet songs written by the likes of Nanci Griffith, Tom Waits, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Neil Young, Billy Joel, Carole King, Bruce Cockburn, Jesse Winchester, Don Henley, and Steve Earle. The whole project has a warm, rich, soulful sound.

Your little one can drift into dream land with all the animals in the Sea Hotel, including a pig, tuna, seahorse, hammerhead, catfish, octopus, and a pelican. This Moonbeam Children's Book Award winner is filled with vibrant watercolor pictures. A fun, bold white font pops out against the various shades of deep blue night sky. The pictures are filled with items and shapes your little one will recognize, like the moon, a sailboat, an ice cream cone, waves, silverware, fish, kites, and more. This is a great bedtime or naptime story, as the pictures show the sea animals getting sleepy and preparing for bed at the hotel. The story depicts rhymes every three lines creating a sing-song cadence. Repetition of the lines, "They've eaten their minnow. They've eaten their worms. They have no more stories to tell," helps bring the story around full circle. The lyrics to the accompanying songs are printed following the story.

You can engage your child by asking them to name the items and animals they know on each page, or repeat the lines that they've memorized with you. The pictures will evoke your little ones' imagination, as they mimic a dream. The main character, a pig, is shown flying high while holding on to the string of a fish-shaped kite; then the pig is flying on the back of a massive pelican; next, he is surfing with an alligator; a tuna is seen rowing in a boat; and later the crescent moon is riding in that same red boat! It may be fun for your child to share of his or her dreams with you, or visa versa.

I read this book to my two-year-old friend, Kyle, before bedtime. He loved looking at the pictures, and would hold the page in place until he was completely done taking in the pictures. At that time, he would help me turn the page, eager to see the next imaginative scene. We listened to the CD after reading the book, and Kyle fell asleep on my lap about two songs in.

--Audra