GOODNIGHT, PAPITO DIOS/BUENAS NOCHES, PAPITO DIOS

The author’s love letter to his mother, a gentle, repetition of the words of a Latino lullaby, starts off with an image of a young boy too scared to fall asleep and a father remembering his own mother singing a beautiful song about a turtledove to him. The soothing “¡Cu-cu-ru-cu-cuuu!” of the dove helps all fall asleep, and the mother sings of the boy’s guardian angel coming down to take the boy up to heaven to visit Papito Dios, el Padre Celestial, the Heavenly Father. The soft words are accompanied by strong illustrations of family bonds, Christian imagery and suns and moons with human features. Heavily outlined in black, the vivid, textured paintings have an eye-catching folkloric quality. The bland, sentimental bilingual text in English and Spanish may appeal to families seeking bedtime books with religious feelings. (Picture book. 3-5)