On the Town: A Night Out with Mama by Quvenzhane' Wallis

My new blue shoes make a soft tap, tap, tap as I walk down the hall.

The sun is just up now, and it's just me, excited for the day to begin.

Today is extra special so Daddy makes everything I love for breakfast.

There's a big night out with Mama coming up, an award show, and the two are stepping out tonight. The blue shoes are just the beginning. There is a beautiful blue dress to match the shoes, and a glamorous lady who comes to create a special hairdo to go with it.

Then a big long car comes to take them to the event. Mama tells her daughter that there will be a red carpet to walk in on and photographers' flashbulbs popping all around them. The girl practices waving from the big black car. She's thrilled with the glamour of it all.

That is, until she steps out of the limo onto that famous carpet.

I fall flat on my face!

But she scrambles up like a trooper, and poses for pictures with Mama with a big smile. Suddenly she's really getting into it all.

I'm having the time of my life!

It's a time to remember, with late-night ice cream sundaes to boot, in A Night Out with Mama (Simon and Schuster, 2017), in what is an actual, if fictionalized, account of author Quvenzhane' Wallis' evening at the Academy Awards as a nine-year-old nominee for her role in the movie "Beasts of the Southern Wild." Even though most kids' nights out with mama won't include the Oscar Awards, a dress-up girl's night out can be just as memorable an occasion, and Wallis offers a kid's-eye-view of a major moment in time between mother and daughter. Illustrator Vanessa Brantley-Newton catches the excitement of that special night with just the right touch of glamour and sparkle, along with the closeness of parent and child in a night that makes a lifetime memory. Says Booklist, "Kids will appreciate that, whether everyday or singular experiences, it's sharing them with loved ones that matters most."