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Reviewed by:
  • Hillside Lullaby
  • Deborah Stevenson
Vestergaard, Hope Hillside Lullaby; illus. by Margie Moore. Dutton, 200632p ISBN 0-525-47215-0$15.99 R 4-6 yrs

In this multi-species bedtime book, gently rhyming text begins with a sleep-resistant little girl and then chronicles the settling down of a series of babies—a bird, bunnies, a toad, raccoons, a fawn, and some crickets—the sound of which finally lulls the little girl to dreamland. Though the text is a little overlong and the concept a familiar one, the verse is executed with quiet polish: the careful structure of the anapestical stanzas breaks for a valedictory dimeter couplet, the rhyme is a subtle underlay, and alliteration and occasional puns add to the musicality and resonance of the lyric. Moore's luminous nocturnal nightscapes have a hand-hewn individuality to the draftsmanship that ensures beauty doesn't turn into bland sweetness; a slight grainy texture gives substance to the soft ombre ranges of the green and blue washes. Animal lovers will particularly enjoy nodding off with this cozy collection of sleepy creatures.

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