At the Stroke of Goodnight

Animals on a farm settle in for the night, where “everything’s still and everything’s right.” The refrain, “and all is quiet at the stroke of goodnight,” creates hypnotic repetition, matched by the text’s musicality. Minimalist, cut-paper-like silhouettes are set upon evening-tinged backgrounds, and surreal details—“a dreaming dog” with wings, a glass of juice with a tiny duck floating in it, a barn transformed into a cuckoo clock—create a fantastical aura. The rhythm stutters to a stop at one point: “Where is the baby?/ With the colt or the cow?/ Near the fawn or the sow?/ On the tractor with a plow?” read the lines as silhouetted tots crawl about. But the quiet cadence returns as a baby is rocked to sleep by a mother and tucked into bed. Rice’s rhythmic lullaby is calming and mild, suited well to a bedtime wind-down. Ages 3–5. [em](Aug.) [/em]