From trees to underground dens, a gentle rhyming text reveals the many places animal babies sleep. Warm illustrations rendered in oil show a toddler in red pajamas cuddling up to these animals; however, the omission of several animals mentioned in the text will no doubt disappoint or frustrate the target audience, making this book a missed opportunity for a soothing bedtime read. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

Cotten's latest is cleverly formatted to suit different audiences. Relating the different ways and places that animal babies sleep, the gentle rhymes make this perfect for bedtime. At the same time, the text provides clues that point to animals that are not pictured, making this ideal for wakeful times and group readings. "Some babies sleep / in a warm, cozy nest. / Some babies find / that a stall suits them best." Featuring mammals and marsupials, there are also allusions to some aquatic and avian animals. Tong's oil paintings use soft colors and moonlight illumination to set the mood for sleep. But his animals are rather fuzzily rendered, putting a curtain between the readers and the scene, and keeping them from truly getting into the same somnolent state as the red-pajama-clad baby who sleeps among the creatures in each spread. This has some appeal for group readings, but doesn't come close to equaling Mem Fox's Time for Bed. (1993) (Picture book. 2-6) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.