SWEET DREAMS LULLABY

In The Runaway Bunny, Margaret Wise Brown’s mother bunny famously tells her little one to “have a carrot” when he finally settles in for the night. The bunny in Snyder’s bedtime book already has a carrot securely tucked in his pajama pocket in the cover and title-page illustrations. Sustenance secured, he doesn’t tell his mother he will run away; instead, he acquiesces to having her tuck him into bed on the first page and then imagines himself in the dreamscapes she describes to lull him to sleep. The rhyming text describes the little bunny in different outdoor scenes where fireflies are cast as nightlights, a daddy frog “sings low and deep, / lulling all the pond to sleep” and stars whisper “good night.” Throughout the pictures, the pocketed carrot is often replaced by other objects from the text, though sometimes the bunny’s pocket is disappointingly empty. Digitally produced art with collage elements employs a rich, soothing palette befitting the gentle cadence of the text. A lovely addition to bedtime-book collections. (Picture book. 2-5)