The daughter of illustrator Jane Dyer debuts with similarly elegant, understated, richly colored illustrations for 21 lullabies from the likes of Eve Merriam, Margaret Wise Brown, Sylvia Plath, and Eugene Field. In keeping with tradition, the rhythms are often more restful than the semantic content: Malachy Doyle writes of a “Dancing Tiger,” Andrew Matthews envisions a “Dream Horse, fiery red / Showering sparks as I shake my head,” and Jack Prelutsky’s contribution opens, “Last night I dreamed of chickens, / There were chickens everywhere, / They were standing on my stomach, / they were nesting in my hair.” Dyer declines to take up the challenge of Brian Patten’s “Mooning,” preferring to populate her twilit landscapes with woolly sheep, autumnal trees, and drowsy children, all beneath a huge, benevolent moon. Though not the most irresistibly somniferous bedtime reading, the selections are nonetheless a pleasing mix of chestnuts and fresh takes. (Picture book/poetry. 5-8)
