GLOBAL BABY BEDTIMES

The universality of the most basic human need—sleep—is touchingly illustrated with ahh-inspiring photos.

Each page shows a sleeping infant embraced protectively by a loving parent, nestled in a crib, or held close in a fabric carrier. The country of origin is noted in text curved around each sleeping child's head. Love and care are constant across cultures. The photo from Guatemala, of a little girl asleep amid bananas in a market, mildly hints at the poverty of the region, but even in this instance the baby looks clean, content, and cared for. Several of the children are dressed in colorful, culturally specific clothing—the Chinese baby wears a Mongolian-style hat, blue batik wraps the baby from Panama, and the infant from the Ivory Coast is wrapped in orange, red, and black fabric. Still, the differences are subtle. In reality, these babies could be seen in any American city. Readers are left with the impression that all these babies are part of one human family, although, appropriately, this is never stated directly. The one simple sentence of text starts out, “Babies everywhere / go to sleep,” and ends with the worldwide wish, “Sweet dreams!”

Sweet, tender, and positive; perfect for sharing with the newest world citizens.