NORTHWOODS CRADLE SONG

This lullaby of the north has been translated from the language of the Menominee people and then adapted by Wood (Old Turtle, 1991, etc.). The repetition of the phrase ``Go to sleep,'' creates a soothing refrain to a mother's bedtime litany about pines, tiger lilies, herons, muskrats, loons. Desimini's paintings are realistic, with atmospheric touches: The creatures at night exist in exotic, otherworldly compositions, but in a way that will still be familiar to children. Opaque colors pick up the variants of hue still visible after the sun has set. This volume expresses a spiritual reverence for nature with poetic images: The vision ``silver, grey-green dragonflies/close their great and burning eyes'' rings with the exact observation of tiny detail. Children will feel warm and comforted, secure enough in their small realms to fall easily asleep. (Picture book. 1 -5)