FARM LULLABY

Hush. It’s bedtime on the farm.

Farm animals large and small prepare for sleep in their own particular styles and cozy places—and, according to this book, also with lullabies that sweetly incorporate their own unique voices. For example, a horse snuggles up to its foal with a “neigh-a-bye,” a cow settles down with a “moo-a-bye,” lambs tuck in to the tune of a “baa-a-bye,” and so on. And when all the animals have bedded down, and “field and barn melt into sky,” the farm also gives itself up to a good night’s rest. This is a sweet, if somewhat treacly, bedtime story, expressed in gentle rhyming couplets that generally read and scan well, intended to lull the littlest human lambs and chicks into peaceful slumber. Young dreamers will appreciate the very colorful illustrations, evocative of mid-20th-century picture books, which present a good selection of familiar barnyard creatures depicted in bright, vivid, sometimes unrealistic colors. These cuddly, endearing farm residents resemble winsome, beloved stuffed toys that small children might themselves snuggle under the covers with. The farm’s environs—fields and barn—are equally awash in bold colors. Front and rear endpapers feature adorable ducklings.

This soothing bedtime book cuddles up to its forebears.