ONE MINUTE TILL BEDTIME

A substantial compilation of new poems for children by over 130 poets.

The opening salvo of former Children’s Poet Laureate Nesbitt’s hefty anthology of “60-second” poems designed to send children “off to sleep” lets the cat out of the bag as to what bedtime’s really about. Having performed basic end-of-day tasks (“Had a bath and / brushed my teeth; / those on top / and underneath”) and prepped for a good night’s sleep, Nesbitt’s speaker rejoices: “All that’s done; / at last I’m freed. / Finally, / it’s time to read.” Here, as throughout the collection, Niemann’s boldly inked drawing of a teddy bear’s free-fall dive into the waiting pool of an open book succinctly and suggestively captures the spirit of the accompanying poem—and, in this case, the entire anthology. Presented with over 140 new poems by many of today’s most prominent children’s poets (Mary Ann Hoberman, Margarita Engle, Jack Prelutsky, Ron Koertge, Nikki Grimes), readers are treated to lyric nighttime reflections on topics as disparate as relationships with favorite pets or grandparents, beloved “toasty, warm jammies,” and one’s blankie—“old and manky.” There’s also plenty of nonsense verse sure to inspire wild dreaming “on the road to morning.” These pithy poetic observations and Niemann’s engaging illustrations prove at once antidote and anodyne for the sleep-averse child demanding just one more….

A dreamy collection of bedtime poems and witty illustrations that’s anything but sleepy.