reS-Gr 2-Beautifully rendered watercolor paintings and a poetic text give readers an insider's view of a special mother-daughter bedtime ritual. Some nights after Kaylie is ready for bed, she and her mother walk out across their lawn and sing together to welcome the coming darkness. Much of the story is told through the lush illustrations, which depict with equal care a flower garden on a summer night and a smiling, blue-eyed girl right down to her pearly teeth. The progression of the evening is also caught as the colors move from gold to peach to lavender and dark blue. The visual perspective shifts in terms of angles and distances, and includes a striking rear view of mother and daughter from the knee down, the foreground filled with their long evening shadows and the gravel drive they are crossing. Warmly reassuring in both concept and execution, this bedtime story will hold its own in a crowded field.
Faith Brautigam, Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, IL
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Ages 4-7. As the sun begins to set, Kaylie asks her mother, "Will you sing the dark tonight?" Singing the dark is a treasured ritual Kaylie and her mother have created to welcome night. In her long, white nightgown, face and teeth freshly scrubbed, Kaylie ventures out into the flower-filled garden with her mother beside her. Then Kaylie's mother begins to sing: "Calling warm, velvet darkness . . . to blanket the ground . . . making day things sleepy . . and wakening the night." Soon Kaylie joins in, and from the garden "two voices are rising, one big and one small, to welcome the coming of a dark summer's night." The sweet, lyrical text is brought to life by Lott"s lovely, flowing watercolors. Light-streaked sunsets, shadowy garden scenes, and inky moonlit spreads show the passage of time and create a soothing, gentle atmosphere in which mother and daughter play out their special nighttime ritual. A charming addition to any bedtime story collection. Lauren Peterson
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