Child's Play

Review of Animal Lullabies

The linking theme in this collection of verses is animals and sleep – how they get to sleep or what they get up to in their sleep. ‘Skunk’ made me and my child reviewer laugh: ‘Sweet dreams, scented dreams, my little skunkadee. All’s well that ends well, my little stinkaree.’ Verses two and three follow a similar pattern with some nice word play like ‘pongaroo’ and ‘honkydoo’.
We also enjoyed ‘Dog’: ‘Sniff the bedding, and sniff the night, turn round to the left, and round to the right. Keep one eye open, as long as you’re able, then dream of the scraps, dropped under the table.’
This collection successfully conveys the restlessness often associated with bedtime. There is lots to enjoy here.

Nursery World. 1st November 2003

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