THE NIGHT IS SINGING

Ready for bed with her favorite bunny tucked under her arm, a little girl climbs the stairs to her room while the sounds of the night begin to sing their lullabies. But each new sound of the hissing radiator, the chiming clock, the squalling geese, her romping tabby cat, the blowing wind, the thunder and rain, makes the little girl increasingly awake and anxious until the “tip-tap beat” of her “mama’s feet” brings mother’s singing to her room. The patterned rhyming text—“Now the moon beams down upon you, / And the stars ignite the skies. / ’Til you rise, / ’Til you rise, / The night will sing you lullabies”—moves the child from acquiescence, to play, to fear, to soothing comfort and finally sleep. Fabric/paper collage on oil paintings in multiple colors of blues and dark purples provide a lot of detail and texture to the nocturnal scenes featuring an otherwise standard theme. Gratifying and readable night after night. (Picture book. 2-5)