My Bed Is An Air Balloon

An adorable picture book written by poet Julia Copus and illustrated by Kate Greenaway nominated Alison Jay.

When night falls my bed is an air balloon.
I sail through the slipsiverse, close by the moon.
I float above treetops where the nub-nubs are sleeping
and flowering hills where the whifflepigs go creeping;
ponds strung with starlight that glitter like glass,
a floog with its velvet nose bent to the grass.
Such treasures I count on. My bed in the trees
swings me up high, like a circus trapeze.
Now the cool, night-rustling air
slips through my finger-gaps, ripples my hair;
now we glide over water, the moon's silver light
blown by a cloudpuff into the bight,
adrift on the sea where the dream-shapes float;
when night falls my bed is a sailing boat.

When night falls my bed is a sailing boat
adrift on the sea where the dream-shapes float,
blown by a cloudpuff into the bight.
Now we slide over water; the moon's silver light
laps at my finger-gaps, ripples my hair;
now the cool, night-rustling air
swings me up high, like a circus trapeze.
Such treasures I count on my bed in the trees -
a floog with its velvet nose bent to the grass,
ponds strung with starlight that glitter like glass
and flowering hills where the whifflepigs go creeping.
I float above treetops where the nub-nubs are sleeping;
I sail through the slipsiverse, close by the moon.
When night falls my bed is an air balloon.

A beautifully presented picture book with two front covers, the text can be read from front to back and vice versa. The mirror form poem meets in the middle in a stunning centrepiece image as the two children in the story (twins, one in an air balloon, the other a sailing boat) meet in the clouds!

About the Author

Julia Copus was born in London and now lives in Somerset. She has won First Prize in the National Poetry Competition and the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem (2010). She also writes for radio; her first play, Eenie Meenie Macka Racka, was awarded the BBC's Alfred Bradley prize. She is a Lector for the Royal Literary Fund, and in 2008 was made an Honorary Fellow at the University of Exeter. She wrote the Harry and Lil series of picture books.

About the Illustrator

Alison Jay was born in Hertfordshire, grew up in Derbyshire and studied graphic design in London where she now lives. After graduating she worked in animation for a short while but gradually started to working as an illustrator. Her commission's include a 48 sheet poster for B.T, a TV commercial for Kellogg's corn flakes and packaging on a new baby range for Crabtree and Evelyn. She has also illustrated lots of children's books and been nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal for her book Out of the Blue.