(3) PS Translated by Dorothy Thunder. Illustrated by Delreé Dumont. Calm and gentle bilingual text, in Plains Cree and English, serves as a soothing lullaby for the baby in this narrator’s arms and as a tribute to the land and natural world around them: “This land is a lullaby your heart already knows. / You carry the song from a lifetime ago.” Gorgeous-hued, landscape-sweeping, textured illustrations depict the flora and fauna, spirits and ancestors using swaths of color and pointillist techniques.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(2) PS Illustrated by Nneka Myers. A gentle text inspired by "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" notes the qualities of a winter evening. From the peaceful snow-covered woods, to a decorated town, to excited kids nestled in their beds, "Magic, / wonder, / beauty bright-- / twinkle right on through the night." Myers's wonder-filled digital illustrations capture the warmth of the season as they follow several different families' activities and feature Hanukkah and Kwanzaa lights along with Christmas decorations.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

(3) PS Illustrated by Mary Peterson. In this appealing vehicular twist on the traditional lullaby, a wide-awake red car cruises along a yellow road, beeping good night to tractors, trucks, taxis, and more. After a zippy ride, the now-sleepy car putt-putts home, where its own "beep-beep dreams begin." Soft gray and luminous yellow dominate the retro linoleum-block prints, giving the proceedings a calm atmosphere, despite the little car's (initially) high energy.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) PS This well-curated collection of lullabies, songs, nursery rhymes, and poetry from primarily American and European sources includes both the familiar ("Hush, Little Baby") and the obscure ("Sweetly Sleep," a traditional Czech carol). Dalton's intricate cut-paper and watercolor illustrations brilliantly stand out against black backgrounds; in conjunction with the text, they inspire reflection and quiet.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Laura Hughes. River Rose, a little girl giddy about a pending zoo trip, takes a magical trip there in the middle of the night. After reveling with the animals, she sings the polar bears to sleep with her mother's lullaby. The festive mood and premise are hindered by uneven rhymes and an unclear resolution; energetic ink, paint, and collage illustrations add appeal. A downloadable song by Clarkson is available.

Reviewer: Grace Enriquez

(4) PS Illustrated by Mandy Sutcliffe. A girl sings a lullaby for her pet bunny, Boo. A typical verse: "All the big ships have dropped anchor--sploosh! / Little sailors are resting their heads. / Pirates are snoozing in hammocks. / Captain Boo, now it's time for bed!" The treacly rhymes hit some snags, but fans of old-fashioned nursery-rhyme art will appreciate Sutcliffe's cozy, dimly lit scenes.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) PS Illustrated by Qin Leng. "Day's left the stage. / Night's in the wings." A small town's children, depicted tenderly but not sentimentally, take to their windows to observe a summer evening's pageantry: e.g., "Fireflies' glint-glints / sparkle the scene / earth-stars glimmering / a shimmering green." This thought-coaxing book-length poem features a growing-list-of-sounds refrain in a cursive that can strain the eyes at times.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) PS Twelve lullaby poems, most never before published, are illustrated by an array of familiar illustrators including Dan Yaccarino and Melissa Sweet. The collection includes a CD of the poems set to music by the singer/songwriters Tom Proutt and Emily Gary. Brown's skill with rhythm and sensory images comes through in her lyrics, and the songs themselves are appropriately soporific for a bedtime collection.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(4) PS Illustrated by Nikki McClure. Lyrics to the musician-author's lullaby, downloadable on the publisher's website, make for spare, bedtime-suited text, despite some disjointed page-broken sentences ("Dreams of sand out in some desert wide, / That will blow all day into the night, / And there will come a new dune"). McClure's dreamy torn- and cut-paper art in mostly blues pitch in on the lulling tone.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(2) PS Illustrated by Emma Quay. "I could eat your little ears. / I could nibble on your nose. / I could munch your tiny fingers. / I could gobble up your toes." The easy rhythm of Fox's effortless-seeming opening lines leads up to a final kiss good-night. Quay's soft mixed-media art in pastel hues depicts the gentle, rounded forms of anthropomorphic parent-and-child elephants and exudes calming comfort.

Reviewer: Megan Dowd Lambert | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2014

(2) PS Translated by Antony Shugaar. Illustrated by Simona Mulazzani. Lush art in cozy nighttime colors lends a magical, drowsy atmosphere to this lyrical look at creatures' bedtimes. Rhyming couplets are full of rhythm and repetition to soothe the youngest ears: "Mouse ate her apple and read her nice book. / Who else is sleeping? Just take a good look." This large-format ode to the joys of dreamland sets the right nighttime tone.

Reviewer: Julie Roach | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2014

(2) PS Illustrated by Sean Qualls. "My little dark baby, / My little earth-thing, / My little love-one, / What shall I sing / For your lullaby?" Not all poems make for great picture book texts, but this one has just the right cadence and all the right line breaks for smooth page turns, especially when accompanied by Qualls's superb blue-hued pencil, acrylic, and cut-paper collages.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2013

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Lynn Munsinger. Mama kangaroo sings a medley of nursery rhymes and songs to lull Cooper, her baby kangaroo, to sleep. Somewhat awkward alternative lyrics are offered for the familiar melodies of "Rock-a-Bye Baby," "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," "Mary Had a Little Lamb," and more. Munsinger's trademark watercolor and ink illustrations picture Mama and Cooper lounging, cuddling, and, eventually, snoozing on a comfy couch.

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty

(4) PS Illustrated by Jui Ishida. Bold acrylic paintings of animals and babies in nighttime tones of blues, greens, and purples accompany the twenty soothing rhymes about nature and various creatures falling asleep. The sentimental poems are quiet, as is appropriate for lullabies, but they lack the vitality so evident in most of Prelutsky's poetry. Sheet music for four of the lullabies is included at the end.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) PS Illustrated by Jana Christy. Thomson's counting story, as stated in the back matter, is a modernized rendition of the poem "Over in the Meadow." This version features animals more commonly found in suburban neighborhoods (crows, ladybugs, cats, dogs) rather than those seen in John Langstaff's classic picture-book adaptation (foxes, beavers, bullfrogs). Christy's soft, colorful digital illustrations complement the soothing tone of the gentle lullaby. Musical notes included.

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty

(3) PS Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. "Hush, Little Monster, don't you howl. / Daddy's gonna give you a...screeching owl." In this amusing takeoff on the well-known lullaby, a father monster tries to soothe his child with promises of friendly visits from various ghoulish creatures, including a ghost, a vampire, and some zombies. The colorful illustrations are suitably more silly than creepy.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) PS This successful interpretation of the familiar lullaby highlights the landscapes over which the star twinkles, from forest to ocean to desert. Depicted warmly in Cabrera's paintings, parent-child animal duos from each habitat smile up at the star, until the last verse zeros in on a human mother and baby. The original music appears on the inside back cover.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) PS A cowboy wants to sing two cows to sleep, but he keeps getting spooked--by a "spider" (it's a flower), by a "snake" (it's a stick), etc. The humor value of a would-be fearless cowboy's true scaredy-cat nature knows no age limit. Simple but fully realized cartoon art amuses to the last page (guess who sleeps with a teddy bear?).

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(1) PS Illustrated by Holly Meade. Bartoletti shapes the ancient Arabic ghazal verse form into a gentle text centered on Noah's wife's lulling song: "As rain falls over the ark at night, / As water swirls in the dark of night..." Meade's watercolor collages, including sunlit figures and quietly dramatic, near-black silhouettes, are a fine complement to the text. A lovely lullaby, in a beautiful, masterfully integrated book.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2011

(3) PS Illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon. MacLachlan imagines a Tanzanian woman singing to her baby as they go about their day together, babe secured in a "long colorful kanga" on Mother's back. The volume is not only lyrical and soothing, it's also instructive about daily activities on the banks of Lake Tanganyika. The luminous color-saturated oil paintings are calm and lovely.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin