JUMBO'S LULLABY

PLB 0-688-16996-1 In this charming lullaby, a mother elephant tries to sooth little Jumbo to sleep with gentle rhyming nonsense verses about other animals and their babies: “Zebras sleeping in the shadows,/ where they’re safely out of sight,/dream themselves in gorgeous colors/anything but black and white.” Little Jumbo sees the technicolor zebras, and the cloud-bounding gazelles, and even Uncle Rhino swimming as a sleek “rhinocer-fish.” At last the baby elephant sleeps, and the mother concludes as many human mothers have before: “Now that you are sleeping too, dear,/how I sigh with sweet relief./Slumber peacefully, my darling,/Mama’s love is wide and deep.” Sorenson conveys a pleasing blend of realism and whimsy, showing in wonderful watercolors a variety of wild animals settling down to sleep. An appealing good night book for young children and their weary parents (Picture book. 2-6)