GOODNIGHT, STARRY NIGHT

When bedtime is the goal, art and poetry mix together for the greater (sleepier) good.

Poet and former Waterstones Children’s Laureate Coelho finds sleepy beauty in 14 different works of art. Explaining that “the works of art I have chosen in this book each made me feel relaxed,” he’s constructed sleepy-time poems for each one. A view of Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night yields a musing on the “River Sky”: “I gaze upon the starry night / it twists into a river-sky / my every breath, a swirling light / I gaze upon the starry night.” Most of the other art selections will prove new and unfamiliar to young and adult eyes alike. Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room and Faith Ringgold’s Tar Beach inspired poems that will speak to readers’ imagination as they drift off. For the most part, Coelho’s poetry is solid, though some entries veer into tepid, repetitive writing. But the book’s explicit purpose is to get kids on the path to slumberland, and here it succeeds. Backmatter offers guidance on using “Art as Therapy at Bedtime,” including how to become your child’s “sleep facilitator,” along with a treatise on why lullabies are so calming. Additional information on the artworks is appended.

A title sure to spur sleepiness, with appropriate verse to match.