Sleepy Snuggles

Numerous animal pairs wind down with species-specific bedtime routines in Murray’s gently reiterative rhymes. Featuring familiar creatures including bear cubs, lambs, piglets, ducklings, and more, quatrains open with snuggle-inspired summons (“Snuggle-bunny, snuggle-bunny”). First-person lines then smoothly proceed to habitat-appropriate tuck-ins (a “golden hive” for a “snuggle-bee”) along with a loving kiss (on the “pointy beak” of a “snuggle-chick”). The combination yields mesmerizing stanzas ready-made for human imitation: “Snuggle-frog, snuggle-frog,/ under dreamy skies,/ I’ll tuck you in a lily pad/ and kiss your sleepy eyes.” Handmade textures and digital techniques lend each cuddly scene of an animal parent and youth the soft, almost pointillist fuzziness of a textile—just like the concluding blanket that helps tuck in a pale-skinned human youth. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)