All Kinds of Kisses

On and around the farm, every baby animal savors a special kind of kiss, in accordance with its signature sound. “Little Chick loves Cluck kisses,” writes Tafuri. “Little Calf loves Mooo kisses.” Even Little Bunny gets a distinctive quiet “Shhh” kiss. Exercising her prerogative as a human author (and harkening back to the format of her I Love You, Little One), Tafuri wraps up by declaring that the best kiss of all is “Mommy’s kiss good night,” although quibblers may note that our species apparently does not have a unique kissing sound. Tafuri’s generously scaled, splendidly hued watercolors immerse readers in an idyllic world of mutually adoring parents and offspring. Her animal renderings feel slightly less consistent than usual: she has few peers when it comes to depicting feathered animals, but her sheep seem more tiled than woolly. The full-bleed spreads hold an added bonus for attentive readers: they can follow a daddy bluebird as he hunts for food before settling down in the penultimate pages for a twilight snuggle with his own downy darling. Ages 3–6. (Jan.)