Ophelia's Bedtime Book: 2a Collection of Poems to Read and Share

Sentimentality is the order of the day in this collection of 18 bedtime poems, each paired with an elaborately propped photograph of toy bear Ophelia and friends. Teacups and wooden blocks, flowers and old books, Victorian embroidery and the like decorate the old-fashioned poems. Eugene Field's ``Wynken, Blynken, and Nod'' is a typical selection, as are Alfred, Lord Tennyson's ``Sweet and Low'' and Robert Louis Stevenson's ``The Land of Nod.'' The cluttered scenes burst with 19th-century accoutrements as toy bears appear in lacy nightgowns, wire-rimmed granny glasses, white bonnets or flower-bedecked hats. Rudyard Kipling's ``Seal Lullaby,'' for example, accompanies a photo of a beribboned stuffed mouse who sits atop a mirrored globe balanced on the nose of a stuffed seal. Unfortunately, visual details like Ophelia's too-large glove and a small bear's oversized shoes sometimes ruin the overall effect, and the lasting impression is more of treacle than of genuine sweetness. Ages 3-8. Doubleday Children's Book Club main selection. (May)