Animal Lullabies by Lila Prap

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How do various animals get to sleep at night?

In Animal Lullabies, Lila Prap gives us the lullabies the mothers sing to them. Each is perfectly suited for the particular animal. The animals featured include owls, chicks, kittens (who receive a song of yarn), baby mice (who dream of cheese to nibble), and more.

What makes these so remarkable to me is that each two-page spread features a different animal in a different poetic meter, with sounds. Of course, the owls have “hoo” and many other “ooos” in theirs, and the sheep have lots of long “e” sounds. I loved the “peep”s in the chick’s lullaby and the repeated “sss” in the snakes’ poem.

The illustrations are deceptively simple. They are (I believe) chalk drawings on black textured paper. Possibly they are digitally rendered. Whichever is the case, I’m still impressed by the bright colors, the common animal shapes, and also how well the sleeping animals fit in the form of the book.

Altogether, Animal Lullabies is a delightful book in both art and poetry. It’s a book I would not mind reading aloud to my daughter time and again, night after night. That makes it a true winner!

Note: Animal Lullabies was published in English by North-South Books, 2006.

Reviewed on July 18, 2014

About the author 

Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid is a homeschooling, stay-at-home mother seeking to make the journey of life-long learning fun by reading lots of good books. Rebecca Reads provides reviews of children's literature she has enjoyed with her children; nonfiction that enhances understanding of educational philosophies, history and more; and classical literature that Rebecca enjoys reading.

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