Book Description
for Lullaby Raft by Naomi Shihab Nye and Vivienne Flesher
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
"When the day feels short and the night feels wide / Little stars go run and hide / I'll make me a lullaby raft to ride / to the other side." All children should be fortunate enough to be lulled to sleep with Nyes soothing images requiring nothing of them other than dreamy awareness: a chicken sleeping with her head tucked low, a bunny climbing into a dresser drawer, a turtle folding into its walls, and a lizard licking the darkness clean. "On the river of the sky...The stars will drift and gently soar...The moon will float like a little rowboat / Without an oar." If they are especially lucky, weary children will hear Nye's seven-verse lullaby sung to them. Easy music notation for the original lullaby is provided at the end of this exquisite volume illustrated with Flesher's chalk pastel drawings on paper. The illustrations feature visions of a dream-like parent and a dream-like wee girl in a bouffant white skirt found only in dreams or dress-up boxes. The jacket's die-cut star shapes add to the elegant book production. (Ages 2-6) Honor Book, CCBC Caldecott Award Discussion
CCBC Choices 1997. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 1997. Used with permission.