You and I Are Stars and Night - by Kate Hosford Hardcover

Book Synopsis

This whimsical picture book celebrates the loving, playful, and imaginative relationship between caregiver and child through a shared dreamy journey before bedtime.

The wind is calling. Hear it sweep
through our village, fast asleep.
Will you sail away with me?
You and I are salt and sea...

And so, bathtime turns into a magical expedition. A grown-up and child embark on the voyage together, meeting mermaids in the sea, playing hide-and-seek in an enchanted forest, and soaring with the birds before sailing home to read and snuggle in for bedtime, which they know is just another adventure beginning.

Through it all, they cherish the most important thing in both dreamland and the real world: being together.

Review Quotes

Jones uses saturated, vibrant colors and a lack of outlines in his illustrations to create a vivid dreamscape. Hosford's quiet, whimsical text ultimately settles on reassurance, demonstrating a respect for the needs of a young child: "Hold my hand and lead the way / Our home is still above the bay. / And everything is still the same / You and I are glow and flame." Tender without being saccharine and fanciful without any dramatics, this is the epitome of a bedtime book.--Horn Book "January/February 2026 Issue"

Hosford's melodious rhymes and Jones's serene, soft-edged paintings highlight a caregiver and child's grounding partnership in this lullaby-like story. . . . As the companions venture forth, "You and I" becomes an iterative refrain that sees the duo's connection expressed as common pairings ("boat and sail," "fork and spoon," "ebb and flow"). . . . Employing dusty blues, purples, and pinks, the illustrations generate a dreamy effect, and concluding pages see the subjects' adventuring shift into cuddles in this anchoring bedtime send-off.--Publishers Weekly "11/10/2025"

Bedtime preparations kick off a romp through the imagination. Hosford's soothing first-person text, told from the perspective of the grown-up, combines with the comforting deep blues and greens of Jones' digitally finished acrylic and watercolor illustrations for a natural bedtime read that's also likely to be a popular gift among new parents. A soothing, poetic look at a common nighttime routine.--Kirkus "November 15, 2025 Issue"

About the Author

Kate Hosford is the author of seven picture books and two poetry collections, garnering accolades such as being named an American Library Association Notable Book, a Bank Street Best Book of the Year, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and a New York Times Best Illustrated Book. Her books have been published in eight languages. She is a graduate of Vermont College of Fine Arts where she earned her MFA in writing for children and young adults. Kate lives in Brooklyn with her family.

Richard Jones has been living and working in Devon, England, for more than twenty years. He spent several years working in a busy children's library, issuing and shelving other artists' picture books before one day wondering if it wasn't about time he had a proper go at creating one or two himself! Richard has written and illustrated many picture books, including Wondering Around by Meg Fleming, The Snow Lion by Jim Helmore, Quiet by Tom Percival, and You and I Are Stars and Night by Kate Hosford.