STORMY WEATHER

A genderless parent fox cuddles with its baby at bedtime and explains in several scenarios how he or she would protect the little one from any weather that could break the night’s peace. From there, the sing-songy rhyming narrative visits several parent animals in their natural environments shielding their young from all kinds of rain, wind and snow. Though the point seems to be to soothe fears, it has backfire potential. Such lines as, “If thunder tore the night in two, / and lightning played at peekaBOO,” could invite children to ponder if thunder really could tear the night in two. Richly colored, sweeping images of ominous gray clouds and lightning filling up the sky add to the menace. But for every possible scare, the parent animal swiftly smoothes out the wrinkles—“we'd watch the storm pass overhead, / then curl up safe and snug in bed”—accompanied by Gliori’s equally comforting visuals. There is certainly no shortage of cuddly bedtime stories about parents keeping children safe and sound, but this is a solid addition nevertheless. (Picture book. 3-6)