The Crown on Your Head

New York Times Bestseller

On the day that we met and I put you to bed,
I noticed a crown on the top of your head.
It was made up of sparkling, glimmering things
like moonlight and fireflies, and dragonfly wings.

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that your children are extraordinary. But my newest book does anyway. I hope it helps you convey to them just how magnificent they are… so magnificent that they are born with a crown that will never leave them.

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Sample Spreads

Reviews for The Crown on Your Head:

Publishers Weekly

Tillman (On the Night You Were Born) continues her project of nurturing children’s self-esteem, creating a cascade of dreamlike spreads to accompany verses assuring them that “[t]he world is a wonderland waiting for you.” Her familiar brand of atmospheric, digitally created images show children who wear crowns “made up of sparkling, glimmering things/ like moonlight and fireflies, and dragonfly wings.” These children are not the only ones who wear a crown; every child has one, Tillman explains: “No one’s is brighter, no one’s is duller./ It’s only a crown of a different color.” Tillman’s montages begin with an infant and toddlers, before showing older children perching in a tree house, riding a cheetah, leaping with gazelles, and wearing a cape made of butterflies that come to life and flitter away. There’s something magical about the idea of intimacy with wild animals; spreads in which Tillman imagines such interactions, like the cover image of the child asleep astride a zebra, have special power, especially as they’re rendered with photograph-like verisimilitude. Tillman’s affirmations will please her loyal audience: “Blink three times and… there you are!/ You are twinkling, little star!”

Gatheringbooks.org

“This 32-page picture book is a wonder in and of itself. Nancy Tillman affirms the splendor that children have carried with them since birth.”

Booklist

“…this is soothing, visually attractive, and makes for a comforting bedtime read-aloud.”

School Library Journal

“Tillman adds another dreamy volume to her collection of self-esteem-building titles.”

Kirkus Reviews

“Parents and grandparents will love to read this aloud to their little ones…”

Children’s Literature

“Nancy Tillman returns to the theme that she celebrated in her poetic essay book On the Night You Were Born–every child is special and beloved.…While the re-iterated affirmations on each page may seem a bit much for the less sentimental types, there is no question that Tillman’s message is one that young children need to hear.”