Patsy Cline’s Walkin’ After Midnight by Judith A Proffer, Julie Dick Fudge & Yoko Matsuoka

It almost always surprises people to hear that I enjoy country music. I’m not sure why: so much of it is fantastic, and I love good music of every genre. Perhaps it helps that I lack the class prejudices of most Americans when it comes to music. Admittedly, I don’t care for stoner jams, but that’s an exploration of my psyche for another day.

My appreciation of country music actually began in Malaysia, which likely accounts too for the afore-mentioned lack of class prejudice. My dad had gotten into karaoke, and one of the karaoke tapes he brought home had Patsy Cline’s version of Tennessee Waltz on it. Readers, I fell hard and fast. Fast-forward several decades and, thanks to that long-ago encounter, I’m currently enjoying Miranda Lambert and Shaboozey’s latest excellent albums, with the former’s Wildcard being my kids’ most frequently requested CD when we’re driving around in the van together.

So when I had the opportunity to lay my hands on this picture book based on Ms Cline’s most famous single, I absolutely had to take it. Though Tennessee Waltz will always be my favorite song of hers due to the spark it kindled, Walkin’ After Midnight comes a close second (Fiona Apple does a lovely cover of it, too!) This picture book takes the idea of dreams — whether they be ambitions, daydreams, the usual nighttime dreams or “walkin’ after midnight” dreams that feel analogous to lucid dreaming — and applies them to Little Patsy Cline’s life. In this way, the book covers a broad range of the real life singer’s interests and accomplishments in a manner suitable for young readers.

In keeping with that target audience, the title song is translated in these pages as being sung to Little Patsy’s beloved dog Pepe, who died after a long life filled with love. He shows up in Little Patsy’s dreams to keep her company, chasing away any lingering sadness she has over losing him. It is a very cute and surprisingly germane way of talking about bereavement, grief and consolation.

Speaking of cute, the illustrations are absolutely adorable and really elevate this picture book above its peers. Yoko Matsuoka’s work is outstanding in every way, showcasing Little Patsy in both real-world situations and in beautiful dreamscapes that allude to both her history and song lyrics. I was a little confused by some of the design choices of the book itself but am pretty sure that had nothing to do with the artist. Construction-wise, I didn’t understand why what was clearly meant to be end papers weren’t used as such. The choice of font for the text also seemed counterintuitive. While I loved the artistic fanciness of and the different colors applied to the script, I did think that the use of cursive seemed unnecessarily challenging for young readers. And that’s a shame as, despite some odd sentence construction towards the end, this is a nicely written book that pays loving homage to the legendary country singer and her breakout hit.

Written with the input of Ms Cline’s daughter Julie Dick Fudge, this is the perfect addition to the library of any fan of country music and/or biographies for young readers. It’s also worth purchasing just for the terrific art alone, if not for the roundabout but heartfelt discussion of dealing with the loss of loved ones.

Patsy Cline’s Walkin’ After Midnight by Judith A Proffer, Julie Dick Fudge & Yoko Matsuoka was published September 17 2024 by Meteor 17 Books and is available from all good booksellers, including