THE MOON’S LULLABY

As the moon follows its orbit in the sky, it sees the first yawn of the night “with a baby’s tiny mouth wrapped around it.” As the moon passes overhead she is caught up in the yawn and calls out a yawn of her own, causing all the people and animals below to rub their eyes and begin heading for bed. As the Earth spins, the moon sees the Eskimos in the cold northern ice; the beautiful humpback whales diving beneath the ocean; the koalas nestled in the eucalyptus tree; and a lone bagpiper playing on a craggy cliff. As she completes her journey around the world, a tiny baby under the awning of a desert tent brings the yawn full circle. Soft washes of watercolors accompany this celebration of sleep, adding to its dream-like quality. While it won’t quite replace Susan Bonners’s Just in Passing, now out of print, children will delight in traveling with the moon as they too fall under her spell. (Picture book. 2-5)