TONIGHT

This bedtime book pairs reassuring, original blessings with Bible verses from Psalms, Proverbs, and Deuteronomy.

Almost every double-page spread features a young animal with an older companion, likely a parent. A very pale-green whale and a calf surface on a gray sea at sunset; a gray-and-white wolf and cub frolic in the moonlight; and a black-and-white bird feeds a young hatchling still in the nest. Text set in a large, white or deep gray type displays Assell’s sweet messages (“Tonight, most precious gift, you are safe”) while the Bible verses that inspire them appear below (“I lay down and slept safely” Psalm 3:5, Amplified Bible version). Exclusively male language is used for God, and several different translations of the Bible are quoted; in addition to the AMP, readers will encounter the New Living Translation, New International Version, and God’s Word. While Copple’s cartoon animals can be endearing, the color palette rests heavily on shades of gray, white, and dull orangey-pink, making many of the landscapes look bleak rather than comforting. The penguin perched by itself on an angular iceberg facing the setting sun, for instance, looks very much alone, textual assurance otherwise notwithstanding.

The dullness of the chosen hues dampens the soothing lines.