cover image Good Night

Good Night

Claire Masurel, Chronicle Books, M. Henry. Chronicle Books, $12.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-8118-0644-2

Originally published in France, this slight but agreeable bedtime book features a young girl who, with pajama bottoms slipping down and one shoe off, rounds up her sleeping companions--an assortment of stuffed animals and dolls. Searching her comfortably cluttered home, the independent child (there is no adult in sight) finds her toys in various spots and affectionately chastises each (``Silly Max. It's not time to eat! It's time to go to bed''). After assembling her menagerie on her quilt, she discovers that her plastic duck is still missing and rescues it from the still-full tub. Simple words (``At last, everyone is tucked in. GOOD NIGHT!'') bring Masurel's quiet text to a close. Much more impressive are Henry's timeless, humorously detailed watercolors, which will endear the heroine to bed-bound preschoolers. Ages 2-6. (Apr.)