Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?

Anne Hutchings, a former elementary-school teacher-librarian with the
Durham Board of Education, is an educational consultant.

Young children with their love of “I Spy” guessing games and secrets
will find this story very appealing.

A little girl and her mother are spending some quiet time together
before bed (as evidenced by the bird on a branch silhouetted against the
full moon). Cuddled together in a big rocking chair, the child
challenges her mother to guess what she is thinking. Each new guess—a
new doll, ice cream, a pretty dress—brings the same response, “No.
Try again.” At last, Mother is forced to give up and is let in on the
secret.

Then it is the daughter’s turn to guess what her mother is thinking.
Similar guesses bring the same response as before. But this time, when
mother reveals her secret, something is different. It is bedtime, time
to go to sleep.

Wei Xu’s vibrantly coloured illustrations emphasize the loving
relationship between the mother and daughter and the joy of spending
time together. The gentle story of conversations between them would be
equally effective as a read-aloud or as a dramatization. It would also
be a perfect choice for a bedtime story. Recommended.