In a Blue Room by Jim Averbeck, Illustrated by Tricia Tusa

In a Blue Room by Jim Averbeck is a perfect bedtime routine book. Alice, wide awake past bedtime, complains to her mother that she can only sleep in a blue room, and her room is pale yellow. Her mother coaxes her to use sensory experiences to calm herself and prepare for bed. She brings lilacs and lilywhites and Alice can imagine swirling in the scent in a blue room. Her mother offers her orange tea that makes Alice sleepy. Her red and green quilt feels snuggly and warm, and she imagines a cozy blue room. Soft windchimes sing to a now drowsy Alice. And finally, the light goes out and the moon casts a blue light on the room, and Alice can sleep soundly in her blue room.

Tricia Tusa's illustrations are soft and soothing. I loved the sensory descriptions as they might appear to a child. Children live in a sensory world, and this book captured the essence of a child's bedtime experience.