The Bedtime Rhyme

“I loved it. The most beautiful thing Walt has done.”—Maurice Sendak"Wangerin’s flight of fancy is full of love, and that is what the listener cannot help but hear.”—Jan Karon“Any child who gets this read to them will feel safe and protected.”—Janell Cannon, author and illustrator of Stellaluna“In a series of rhymes, Wangerin (Probity Jones and the Fear Not Angel) dispels a child’s fear of the dark by teaching the lessons of God’s love and presence. As the rhymes begin, a mother responds to her son’s question: “How much do I love you? / Lay down your head, / My gingerbread, / And listen: I’ll tell you.” She elaborates by telling him that if robbers should come into the room, “I’d clobber those robbers / Until they slobbered / And all their teeth decayed.” If her son is threatened by monsters, “I’d grab my reaper, / My vacuum sweeper, / And suck those monsters down!” After she reassures him that she will protect him against all things, the mother then tells her son, “Here in your room / All night while you’re sleeping, / Kinder and wiser / And best for safekeeping / Is God.” Huang’s illustrations capture the wildness of the child’s imagination and provide just the right background for Wangerin’s humorous rhymes. Ages 5-8.”—Publishers Weekly