PRESCHOOL
Lindgren, Astrid

Now That Night Is Near

(2) PS Translated by Polly Lawson. Illustrated by Marit Törnqvist. A young child lies in bed, surrounded by a multitude of stuffed animals. All are carefully tucked in, the child in their bed; stuffies in doll beds, carriages, boxes, drawers, and shelves. It is a cozy scene, redolent with love and care and perfectly suited to the soothing tone of the text: "Come now little one, it's time to go to sleep. All the little children are tucked up in bed." The scene then moves outside, and viewers follow the family cat as it roams across open fields, woodlands, and hillsides past cows, sheep, and pigs, all bedding down in family groups. "In woodland and water, bushes and burrows," all the earth's creatures are falling asleep. The book closes back in the child's bedroom, where the roving cat has returned and is curled up next to the now-slumbering youngster. The light has changed from twilight to the dark blues of night, and the stuffed animals have slightly changed positions; they too have closed their eyes and succumbed to sleep. Törnqvist's soft and impressionistic full-bleed mixed-media paintings enfold viewers with love and security. Read this along with Margaret Wise Brown's The Big Red Barn--and even the most reluctant toddler will be lulled to sleep.

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