When, snuggled up in bed, little Lisa raccoon asks Daddy for a kiss, she gets an entire catalogue to choose from: “Do you want . . . a witch’s kiss? . . . a butterfly kiss? . . . a grandma kiss? . . . an Eskimo kiss?” Ten Cate (The Very Best Door of All, 2001) changes the scenery for each of Daddy’s options, transforming Lisa’s bedroom to a bamboo forest or a circus big top, adding beach toys and party streamers, then bringing it back to its original rumpled coziness when Lisa specifies, “a goodnight kiss!” Enlightened, Daddy offers such a somniferous buss that Lisa is out before it even lands. Though in itself a bit skimpy for a bedtime read, like Virginia Walter’s Hi, Pizza Man!, illustrated by Ponder Goembel (1995), or, for that matter, Else Minarik’s Kiss For Little Bear, illustrated by Maurice Sendak (1968), this import could easily spark an intimate, giggle-inducing, parent-child bonding ritual. (Picture book. 3-5)
