Who Said Coo?

Twin sisters and first-time collaborators Ruddell (A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk: A Forest of Poems) and Luebs (Please Pick Me Up, Mama!) present a bedtime story with an understated sense of humor and rhymes that encourage chiming in. Unbeknownst to Lulu the pig, Pigeon and Owl have shown up on her doorstep at bedtime, when things are “cozy and quiet, just the way she liked it.” Lulu’s slumber is interrupted by a loud “Cooooo” and then a “Whooooo.” Lulu confronts the likely culprits, but Pigeon and Owl refuse to fess up. Again roused—this time by a “Mooooo”—Lulu orders them away, but after their cries of “boo-hoo” again awaken her, Lulu invites them inside for cocoa and a sleepover. Luebs’s acrylic paintings feature a luminescent pastel palette, which makes the story’s nighttime scenes glow. A few deft strokes convey Lulu’s contentedness, exasperation, and anger, though the birds’ mischievousness is much more subtle—there’s a hint of it in their eyes, but little else suggests they are “two bad birds,” as Lulu puts it. Ages 3–7. (June)