The Goodnight Book

What begins as an ostensible guide to saying goodnight in multiple languages ("In French, they say Bonne Nuit") quickly turns gently surreal. After a sequence of three softly painted portraits of human parents (and a pet cat) bidding goodnight to human children, Smith (Noisy Poems for a Busy Day) introduces an array of benevolent, cuddly creatures not likely to be found in Wikipedia, who say goodnight in ways that Google Translate won't recognize. "In some far off places they say... Kissy Kissy," writes Smith as a brown, furry ovoid nestles its tan offspring in a pouch, while three additional little ones sleep in snowy burrows beside them. A pink bearlike creature wraps eight contented children in its arms while wishing them "Fleep Dreams," and what appear to be three sentient hills say "Moony Night" as a yellow orb floats overhead. Smith's creations have the simplified facial expressions of manga characters and emoticons, with U-shaped closed eyes that signal supreme contentment on the part of every fuzzy worm, four-legged octopi, and snow creature. Ages 2%E2%80%935. (July)