cover image A Number Slumber

A Number Slumber

Suzanne Bloom. Boyds Mills, $16.95 (40p) ISBN 978-1-62979-557-7

“What do you do to get ready for bed?” asks Bloom in this cozy bedtime counting book. “Do you brush your teeth? Have a story read?” Sleepy animals clothed in bright pajamas show how they prepare for bedtime, introduced in alliterative rhyming phrases that count down from 10 to one: “Ten terribly tired tigers tiptoe to their beds./ Nine normally nimble newts rest their sleepy heads.” While there’s something of a tongue-twisting quality to the word-stuffed verse, the soothing blue backgrounds and smudginess of Bloom’s pastels lend a soporific quality to the spreads; one can practically feel the softness of the blankets and beds that the animals curl into. Even those most reluctant to go to sleep may find themselves happily succumbing. Ages 2–5. (Oct.)