All Through the Night

This traditional Welsh lullaby receives fine treatment with Alizadeh’s spare and evocative paintings. Illustrations appear on the right side of each spread, matching a verse on the left. The opening bedtime image of a mother and child with dot eyes and red cheeks—rendered in soft brush strokes in muted reds, yellows, and blues—sets a calming tone. For the second verse (“Guardian angels God will send you,/ All through the night”) three angels appear as doll-like children with wings (one of them resembling the child from the opening scene) against a swirly gray-blue sky with gold stars. Alizadeh’s illustrations include expansive bird’s-eye views of tiny houses on hills, guarded by a large, attentive moon; a close-up of sleeping birds; and several depictions of the child in bed, floating among white clouds, or being guarded by hovering angels. A welcome rendition of a gentle bedtime song. Ages 3–7. (June)