PET SHOP LULLABY

When it comes to a good night’s sleep, hamster is a problem. Just as the pet-shop owner is closing up for the night, the other pets are falling asleep. But for hamster, it’s time to exercise. When their shushing falls on deaf ears, the animals take matters into their own paws and help the hamster fall asleep in ways that will be very familiar (and funny) to young children. Brief text with easy vocabulary and a generous scattering of onomatopoetic words makes this a good choice for both very young audiences and beginning readers. Less detailed than those in her I.Q. series, Fraser’s gouache illustrations suit this younger audience, and in no way are they missing the humorous details that readers have come to love. The expressions on the animals’ faces truly steal the show. A nifty approach to problem solving, a peek at the difference between diurnal and nocturnal and a good argument as to why light sleepers should not keep a hamster as a pet. (Picture book. 2-6)