The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous.
The Blue Hour is a look at various animals around the world at a beautiful time of day.
The text along with the artwork is wonderful and serene.

Blue Hour has taken over from its older brother, Golden Hour, as the most beautiful time of day, particularly for photographs.
Starts with a palette of many blue hues, leading into paintings that feature all kinds of animals with blue in the name. Some of the minimal prose sneaks up on you, like “Float like a blue butterfly, glide like a blue whale.”
The artwork is almost impressionistic, though in a way kids will enjoy. If there’s a complaint it’s that this book is too short, as even if there were no more animals with blue names there could have been much more to this.

This book has some lovely artwork and it will be a great read for children to introduce them to some new species that they may not have heard of and also the different shades of blue. It shows how varied the natural world really is.

The artwork in this book is stunning, I could stare at each picture for hours. It must be wonderful reading this with a child and discovering all the details in each picture.

The day ends.
The night falls.
And in between…
there is the blue hour.

The Blue Hour is gorgeous children’s book that celebrates the beauty of nature at one of the lesser thought of times of the day – dusk. The words are simple yet so calming and the illustrations are beautiful. It would be perfect as a bedtime story, or just to enjoy as a calming moment with your children.

The blue hour settles in, and nature becomes still.

The story is that of an in-between time, when the day is ending and night is falling. It tells of all the things that different animals (and nature) in varying shades of blue are doing at that time, from the blue-silver sardines of the ocean to collections of wildflowers. The writing is fairly simple and effectively reads like a list, but there’s something about the relaxing rhythm of the words and calming images they conjure that make it a delightful reading experience.

The illustrations are enchanting. As with the words the pictures are simple yet beautiful, without losing any finer details; they bring the world and its night-time wonders to life, utilising the colour blue in all its wonderful variety. I love how Simler has explored animals from all over the globe, as it makes this book not only soothing but a great tool for creating interest in the world, in animals and nature – something that I think is massively important within children’s book. Highly recommended.

They wait for this moment every evening, silently…and the night softly wraps them in its quiet.

This is a truly beautiful children's book. I can envision reading it to a child as part of a ritual to settle down at the end of the day, to find our own peaceful Blue Hour, wherever we are. Beautifully illustrated, with a color palette that allows you to discuss shades of blue, and a host of blue animals and plants for a child to contemplate. A marvelous gift for children in the 4-6 years of age range.

Gorgeous artwork! A great read for children learning to differentiate shades, and additionally recognize more detail in images. For example, each page introduces a specific species which usually contains the word blue, if not also blue itself. This interesting even as an adult reader, since I was tempted to look up some of these species for more information. There's a blue ringed Octopus? Fascinating!

Additionally, at the end of the novel there is a great world map that indicates where each animal is found.

I think this is a great read, that offers more than just a set plot, and many opportunities for a young reader to learn more, and encourage further interest in animals.

What an absolutely beautiful book! The illustrations took my breath away and even brought a tear to my eye. I would certainly recommend this book to art educators and to primary level teachers. I cannot wait for February to arrive so that I can purchase this book.

First, I love that one of the first things you see in this book is two pages of swatches of shades of blue with their names. It's a reminder of how rich our lives are in both color and words. The illustrations, done in mostly blue with small splashes of other colors, are absolutely stunning. The text, though minimal, only adds to the enchantment of this book.