SWEET DREAMS, MAISY

Cousins produces a sweet evening serenade for toddlers. After frolicking about with good friends all day, Maisy bids them farewell at dusk to begin her nightly ritual. Story time leads to a gently sung lullaby for Panda and then it’s lights out for Maisy and her best stuffed pal. Although the text retains Cousins’s de rigueur simplicity, she branches out in a more poetic direction as she describes the evening and Maisy bathed in moonlight. The illustrations, too, show a slight departure from typical her typical fare. The bright palette of primary colors rendered in gouache is still apparent, as are the familiar, beloved characters. However, in the sunset scenes the sky is no longer the characteristically flat canvas of color. Instead, it’s an array of mixed hues and textures. These subtle changes add a new vibrancy to this favored series. A welcome addition to the legion of Maisy adventures. (Picture book. 2-5)