"The Bedtime Emptying of The World by Joel Hans is a remarkable debut. These breathtaking stories rock the reader with ‘their hopes overexposed.’ What an ethics, what a lyrical feat! Hans is a true storyteller in the folkloric tradition. He brings lovely new color into our world."
— Kate Bernheimer, World Fantasy Award-winning Editor of My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales

“Joel Hans' The Bedtime Emptying of Our World is a captivating collection of modern fables, fairy tales and myths, and at the same time a keen exploration of familial love among the devastations of a transforming climate. Like its setting, this book is a varicolored desert bursting with life.”
—Ethan Chatagnier, Author of Singer Distance

"In The Bedtime Emptying of Our World, Hans deftly leads readers through an often fantastical but always real series of worlds. In these stories, a girl lives inside an apple, crayons take on the weight of childhood dreams and parent wishes, and the moon lights the story of siblings lost and loved. In every fairy tale Hans creates, the magic lies inside the heartfelt and human relationships at the center. This is a beautiful book for every dreamer."
—Chloe N. Clark, Author of Collective Gravities and Every Galaxy a Circle