A RECIPE FOR BEDTIME

Bently and Massini serve up rhyming verse and a bevy of animal friends to guide a little one through the bedtime routine, one “ingredient” at a time.

Although the front endpapers show a mother carrying baby upstairs, there are no parents in sight as a little blond child readies for bed in this decidedly sweet take on the goodnight story. Instead, animate toys provide snuggles and then take steps to “unwrap” (undress), “add to water” (bathe), and so on. Particularly delightful steps include having a toy elephant “add raspberries to tum and feet”; a bottle-feeding suffices for the step “and then add milk.” The baby at the center of all this nurturing is remarkably good-natured and calm, but the animals still return to check after tucking the child in, once again adding milk and singing, too. Their closing song sends baby drifting off to sleep, and then they cuddle up with the child in the crib. Massini’s soft illustrations include charming decorative detail in the setting and on the characters’ clothing while also providing ample visual space for the young readers who will examine the pages while listening to the rhyming verse.

A treat of a bedtime book.