SONG OF NIGHT: It's Time to Go to Bed

Riley and her daughter, newcomer Nakamura, team up for a look at the bedtime rituals of eight parent-and-child animal pairs. "Mice brush their teeth/ without a care./ They make a mess/ most everywhere," accompanies a scene of mild bathroom chaos that may well remind fans of Riley's Mouse Mess (the book itself makes a cameo appearance in a scene of a feline family's bedtime reading). The rhymes are workmanlike ("Baby Bear will softly sigh/ as Daddy sings a lullaby"), but the humorous details of the vignettes (as Little Skunk prepares for bed, a ladybug sprays perfume in the air) and Riley's signature velour-like textures exude the warmth of familial connections. One especially congenial full-bleed spread toward the end gathers all eight families together as they gaze up at a full moon. Ages 3-up. (Mar.)