Day's End Lullaby
By Karen Cioffi and Robyn Feltman

Mother and daughter writing team, Karen Cioffi and Robyn Feltman, have written and composed a delightful lullaby to soothe babies and young children to sleep. The rhyming text, the colourful pictures and the soft music combine into a wonderful, relaxing experience for both adults and children. I found my own concerns just drifting away as I listened to the music and enjoyed the words. The imagery used at the end of the book with 'Mr Sandman' kissing the child's thoughts and turning them into dreams, so that the child would then wake to 'morning's first sun-kissed gleams' particularly appealed to the poet in me.

The musical score can be found at the back of the book and you can listen to a recording on the authors' website. It would be ideal if the book had a CD included with it, but after listening just a few times to the music on the website, I had picked up the tune and was easily matching the words to the music. The book can be enjoyed, however, even without the music because of the rhyming text and the pictures. The latter are very suitable, I think, for babies and young children as they are colourful, uncluttered and clear. In my opinion this book will delight all young children, whether they find it difficult to go to sleep or not and I look forward to future works produced by this mother/daughter team.