Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 07/01/2013 Though Prelutsky may be best known for humorous verse, his writing takes a tender turn in this illustrated collection of 20 lullabies. Written in stanzas with an abcb rhyme scheme, the songs have an undeniably sleepy tone when read aloud one after another, and the best ones form a mesmerizing cascade of drowsy sounds. Ishida contributes a series of dreamlike, digitally enhanced acrylic paintings, from fantasies in which a baby might ride atop a little train to more realistic scenes depicting an infant in the arms of a loved one. Lit by bright moonlight, the many outdoor scenes include gently rounded hills, trees, and flowers, as well as sleeping animals and babies. Night gardens and landscapes, glowing with improbably vivid colors, seem full of warmth and life. Musical notation, including simple melodies and guitar chords, is appended for four of the lullabies, and a note suggests that “additional music” will be available on the writer’s website. A handsome collection of original lullabies. - Copyright 2013 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 09/01/2013 PreS—Twenty short lullabies are paired with stylized illustrations in eye-catching colors. The simple songs, none more than two stanzas long, focus on gentle aspects of the nighttime world: sleepy animals, ocean rhythms, the contrast between outside and cozy indoors. "And while the rabbits hop and hop/The starry night away,/My little baby softly sleeps/ Until the break of day." Two selections feature a mother's voice, two others have a father's, and there are one each for grandfathers and grandmothers. The acrylic paintings, completed digitally, are dreamlike, balanced compositions of softly rounded babies, toys, and animals. Prelutsky displays a keen ear for soothing cadences, but this slight volume lacks the depth of larger collections of bedtime poetry, such as Nancy Larrick's classic When the Dark Comes Dancing (Philomel, 1983).—Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA - Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.