Hush Little Baby

Description

Hush little baby, don't say a word, Mama's going to show you a hummingbird. If that hummingbird should fly, Mama's going to show you the evening sky. From award-winning artist Sylvia Long comes a touching version of the well-known lullaby, Hush Little Baby. Each spread reveals a tender scene as a mama bunny lulls her baby bunny to sleep by enlisting a parade of bedtime wonders--the beauty of a hummingbird in flight; the magic of a harvest moon; the reassurance of a parent's hug, all these and more combine to create a classic volume sure to be treasured for generations to come.

Sylvia Long is the illustrator of several books for children including the best sellers Ten Little Rabbits and Alejandro's Gift. Ms. Long's detailed paintings are inspired by her love of animals and the outdoors. She lives in Arizona. Read more about Sylvia's illustrating process.

--PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY, January 20, 1997 In her reworking of the classic lullaby, Long intentionally de-emphasizes the materialism of the original, making no promises of such grand gifts as a diamond ring or horse and cart. Rather, this Mama character--one of Long's (illustrator of Ten Little Rabbits)familiar, gentle bunnies--comforts her cotton-tailed child with vows to share the sound of cricket calls and a song on her banjo, the sight of a shooting star and the harvest moon and, finally, As that moon drifts through the sky, Mama's going to sing you a lullaby. Blending images of nature with such timelessly reassuring items as teddy bear and picture book, Long's song is gracious if not especially inventive. The art, meanwhile, is both soothing and diverting. While the audience (like Mama's cooperative offspring) may well find their eyelids growing heavy, they will be happily distracted by the pictures' fetching particulars: a patchwork quilt displaying miniature renditions of objects mentioned in the lullaby and, on the bedside table, a book illustration that hints that this sleepy rabbit is reading the same book that they are.