The Mermaids' Lullaby

Swirls of glitter add a dreamy dazzle to this bedtime book. Spohn's (Dog and Cat Make a Splash) meltingly soft paintings, in fresh pastel colors, show ""mer-mommies and daddies"" tucking their little ones in for the night. Spohn tunes the listener's ear for the ""lullaby"" of sea sounds: ""Let your bright eyes shut/ as your sweet shell ears hear an ocean song,"" including smiling crabs ""fiddling"" and a school of fish ""flashing."" Lyrical lines croon, ""Sleepy, sleepy mermaid babies,/ time to hold mermaid dolls/ in your tiny starfish hands""; the illustration shows four babies, each in its own pod of apple-green seaweed sheets, curled up with fish-tailed cuddly miniature figures of themselves. Between the delectable pictures and the soft lull of the words--the glitter merely heightens the appeal--this siren song will float children off into sweet, sweet dreams. Ages 2-5. (May)