An interview about You and I Are Stars and Night by Kate Hosford, presented in partnership with The Children’s Book Review.
Kate Hosford invites us behind the scenes of You and I Are Stars and Night, a tender, imaginative picture book that transforms bedtime routines into a shared voyage of wonder and connection.
You and I Are Stars and Night invites readers into a softly unfolding bedtime adventure where bathtime becomes a boat and love becomes a series of luminous metaphors. In this interview, Kate Hosford reflects on the power of metaphor, the magic of imaginative play, and the intimate bond between caregiver and child that anchors the story. She also shares how rhythm, restraint, and collaboration with illustrator Richard Jones helped shape a narrative that feels both adventurous and calming.
Gentle and heartfelt, You and I Are Stars and Night offers a reassuring reminder that love is a steady presence—one that carries us through both restless waters and quiet nights.
You and I Are Stars and Night is such an intimate celebration of those magical pre-bedtime moments between caregiver and child. What inspired you to capture this particular slice of the day, and how did the concept of transforming ordinary routines—like bathtime—into extraordinary adventures come to life for you?
Kate Hosford (KH): That’s a great question. Actually, I did not envision the story beginning at bathtime. Instead, I imagined a mother and child leaving the house in the middle of the night for a seafaring adventure. But when Richard Jones, my illustrator, started the story at bathtime, he brilliantly anchored the entire book. We know this is an unusual bathtime, taking place in the middle of the night with the wind calling out to the mother, and this setting foreshadows the maritime fantasy that is yet to come.
Richard opens the book with three spreads. In the first, we see a seaside village that is dark except for a light in one window of one home. In the second, we enter the bathroom where the child is bathing. The mother offers the child a small sailboat toy and asks the child to sail away with her. In the third spread, we see the bathtub become a boat with a sail that contains the pattern of the child’s towel from the previous spread. The bathroom tiles dissolve into the water, and certain bathroom toys and furniture are flung out to sea, while a toy dog and duck from the bathtime spread come to life and join the journey. The dog is peering anxiously over the edge of the boat at the duck who is in the water, and it becomes clear that they are friends. This transition to fantasy is so magical, and beyond what I could have imagined.
The book’s structure uses this beautiful refrain of “You and I are…” to explore different imaginative pairings—salt and sea, stars and night. Can you talk about how you developed this lyrical framework? Did the metaphors come first, or did the journey itself lead you to these connections?
KH: Thank you! I had used metaphorical taglines in my previous book, You’ll Always Be My Chickadee, and ended up using them here as well, but in a way that felt fresh and different to me. Once I had the mother ask the child Will you sail away with me? Then the line, You and I are salt and sea seemed to follow naturally. It was a nice challenge taking this story into the fantasy realm and make metaphorical pairing that were related to the action on the page. The meter only worked when I paired one-syllable words for the metaphors, so that was another good challenge. I also wanted the strength of the bond to be revealed in many different ways through the metaphors: blue and sky, boat and sail, glow and flame, etc.
The tone of You and I Are Stars and Night is perfect for that wind-down time before sleep, yet it’s still full of wonder and movement. How do you balance creating excitement and imagination while also crafting something that soothes rather than energizes at bedtime?
KH: That’s lovely to hear. I wanted it to be unexpected when the mother asks the child to go on a bedtime adventure. And then when they return, bedtime is really earned, in the same way that kids after an eventful day might fall asleep easily. Also the predictability and security of home is even more attractive after so many adventures. But there is still a twist at the end, when the mother and child, both asleep, calmly sail into dreamland on an even bigger boat that promises even bigger adventures. Maybe the subtext here is that sleep and drifting into dreamland can be something that children can anticipate with pleasure—the perfect pairing of adventure and relaxation!
As someone who’s written nine picture books, how does your creative process evolve from book to book? Did you approach You and I Are Stars and Night differently than your previous works, especially given its dreamlike, almost lullaby-like quality?
KH: I think it’s probably a natural outgrowth of some of my other work. Four of my picture books are in rhyme, and two are rhyming poetry collections. My book, A Songbird Dreams of Singing: Poems about Sleeping Animals, also has a lullaby feeling to it since every poem is about sleep. Over time, my rhyme has become more pared down, and I try to write in a way that leaves room for the illustrator to expand the story. This book and my previous book, You’ll Always Be My Chickadee, approach the topic of love through metaphor, but while that book was firmly set in the real world, this book blurs the lines between fantasy and reality.
The relationship between caregiver and child in this story feels so universal, yet deeply personal. Did any real-life bedtime adventures with your own family influence the imaginative journeys in this book?
KH: When our boys were young, I would read them lots of books at bedtime. My husband would then come home and play a rowdy game called “Fee Fi Fo Fum,” where he chased them around and pretended he was a giant who was going to eat them. (They loved it!) To calm them down, I sang and made up stories, and my husband would lie on the floor until both boys fell asleep. It was not the most streamlined bedtime ritual, to say the least. But it certainly did create a lot of bedtime bonding and all that reading and storytelling made me want to become a picture book author. Whether the bedtime ritual is chaotic like ours, or more streamlined, I think bedtime has a lot of potential for bonding, magic and adventure.
Picture books are such a collaborative art form. What went through your mind when you saw Richard Jones’ completed illustrations for the first time? Were there any visual interpretations of your text that surprised or delighted you in ways you hadn’t imagined?
KH: I was over the moon when I saw this artwork, and I still am! I had imagined the book set in a European seaside village, so to be paired with an illustrator who lives near the English seaside felt fortuitous.
Another surprising element of the illustrations was the two toy friends coming to life and making the journey with the mother and child. I was also delighted by all the animals throughout the book, who appear in pairs or families, underscoring the idea that we all depend on one another. There are also unexpected little touches of magic everywhere: elves on a branch, dragons, a bright red tree, winged creatures in the sky—all these elements add layers of richness and mystery to the story. I’ve probably read the book a hundred times, and I still find new hidden surprises that I hadn’t noticed before. Try finding all the animal pairs and families in the spread below!
As both an author and presumably someone who shares books with young readers, what role do you think reading together plays in strengthening those caregiver-child bonds?
KH: Parents or caregivers who read to children on a regular basis can go on so many adventures together. They will find books that are mutual favorites, and picture books can become part of their shared history. In the case of this book, I hope children and adults return to this magical world repeatedly and discover new surprises. They might also find their favorite metaphors for the unbreakable bonds of love, discuss what they mean, use them for each other, and perhaps make up some of their own.
Your books have been translated into eight languages and have reached readers around the world. When you’re writing, are you conscious of creating stories that will resonate across different cultures, or does that universality emerge naturally from focusing on genuine emotional truths?
KH: I think it’s the latter. So far, the book of mine that has been translated into the most languages is Infinity and Me, illustrated by my talented friend, Gabi Swiatkowska. In that book, a little girl named Uma is trying to figure out what infinity means while also hoping that someone will notice her new red shoes. I think Uma’s problems and the way she solves them resonated with people in many cultures. I hope that You and I Are Stars and Night will have a universality that also transcends borders, and I hope that the metaphors I chose for love will be understood in many different cultures. Of course, translating a rhyming book into other languages is not always easy, but when we think about all the translated rhyming poetry that is out there in the world, I think it will be possible.
You earned your MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts—what’s the most valuable lesson or insight about writing for children that has stayed with you from your time there? How has it shaped your work across multiple books and poetry collections?
KH: During graduate school, I loved having the time and space to focus on the craft of writing while forming a community with other serious writers. Strong bonds develop when one is focused on becoming a writer, and I am still close with many of my classmates. Working one-on-one with faculty members was also a transformative experience. I felt so nurtured and respected in that environment. After school, when writers are faced with more professional challenges, like finding agents and publishers, marketing, and publicity, it is important to be anchored in a writing community that can provide support and guidance.
What do you hope caregivers and children will take away from experiencing You and I Are Stars and Night together? Is there a particular feeling or message you’re hoping lingers with readers after they close the book?
KH: In a world that is increasingly challenging and divisive, I hope children will know that they are not alone. Hopefully, they have at least one loving and dependable adult who will be on the journey of life with them, even when the going gets tough. One of my favorite pages of the book is this one: In restless waters we are brave/Together we will face each wave/and every tentacle and tail/You and I are boat and sail. After they have finished the book, I hope that children and their adults will find this story both adventurous and soothing, and will find this treatment of steadfast love playful, varied, and reassuring.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
KH: I’d like to let parents, teachers and librarians know that we have created an activity guide for this book, which can be found on the Simon & Schuster website or on my website. I hope to visit many schools with this book and discuss the power of metaphor, and how students can create their own “You and I” metaphors for those they love.
About the Book
You and I Are Stars and Night
Written by Kate Hosford
Illustrated by Richard Jones
Ages: 4-8 | 32 Pages
Publisher: Beach Lane Books (2026) | ISBN: 978-1665940382
Publisher’s Book Summary: 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.
Buy the Book
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.
To find out more about Kate, visit khosford.com.
This interview with Kate Hosford, Author of You and I Are Stars and Night, was conducted between Kate Hosford and Bianca Schulze.
