By Day, by Night

Gibson’s (Catching Kisses) gently undulating verse pays tribute to the children of the world, who are portrayed in their homelands in scenes that highlight topographical and cultural distinctions, and in settings that underpin the universality of their daily experiences and emotions. (The opening image shows five children from diverse ethnic backgrounds yawning and stretching as they awaken in a sort of global bed with a sun motif on the blanket.) So’s (Water Sings Blue) illustrations gracefully balance scenarios grounded in specific places and moments with smaller images of children getting dressed in the morning, being swaddled and cared for by parents, and discovering the joy of reading (“We learn to read; books open doors/ to worlds we’ve never known before”). In one spread, a bustling Caribbean marketplace appears opposite a picture of an African woman crafting a toy zebra, while live ones graze behind her (“We buy and sell. We give and trade./ We offer what our hands have made”). The author is donating her proceeds from this poignant, understated book to the Global Orphan Project. Ages 3–7. Illustrator’s agency: Heflinreps. (Oct.)