Runaway Blanket is a 2025 by Nancy (text) and Mike (illustrations) Deas.
It has a premise that is both appropriate for kidlit and fun: when the mother tells the kid it is time for bed, the kid says they can’t, because their blanket ran away…and the illustration on the very first page shows that this is indeed the case. The blanket, corners bending into leg-like limbs, is indeed running away.
The parent doesn’t believe, and we now have a fine episodic structure set up: adult tells kid to go to bed, kid can’t because blanket ran away, adult doesn’t believe. Along the way, Nancy Deas drops in little details about that time of day: auntie is doing the day’s dishes, the frogs are singing their “night song,” and so on.
This continues through all family members (including the dog, until the blanket is out the door, through the gate, and out into the wild of the night. The kid follows, and so do all the family members, out into the night.
I love the sentiment: the kid’s sense of wonder leads everyone into the dark, where they once again appreciate nature at night. Then they go home to bed.
My only issue with the book is it resolves too easily. The adults all seemed firmly convinced that the blanket was not running away, and, more importantly, not following it. I don’t think they’d all follow and see the blanket run away–and if they did, I don’t think they’d trust it when they caught up with it.
But everything else is nicely gentle, showing a loving, multi-generational family and an easy feeling of wonder.
