Hush, Baby Ghostling

PreS-K-As a mother ghost is trying to get her youngster to bed, every line and ritual used by humans is turned upside down. The ghostling is scared of the light and is told, "Now dream a little nightmare while the ghoulies dance and sway./Dream a dream of darkness where the wild monsters play." The little ghost is afraid that there's a boy hiding in his closet, but Mom assures him that children are only make-believe. After the usual hugs, kisses, and assurance that "I love you," the youngster finally falls asleep. The digitally colored bamboo and ink drawings are simple and large. The daytime scenes are pink, and those set at night are often purple. The dream scenes are filled with rather scary creatures of all kinds. The story might be scary for the littlest ones, but kids old enough to understand the wordplay might enjoy it.-Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A mother ghost soothes her baby to sleep as dawn draws near, summoning visions of ghouls and goblins to help him in his slumber, reassuring him that the "boy / with ten pink toes, blue eyes, / and golden hair" he thinks he sees is "only make-believe." Lemaitre, working in digitally colored bamboo and ink, presents ghosts of the classic, sheeted variety, big eyes and tiny smiles lending them expression. His colors modulate from a gorgeous purply blue to rosy pink as the day brightens; he depicts the monsters the mother conjures in childlike fashionthere's nothing at all scary about this book. Although the ghostly role-reversal premise is hardly new, this is a just-sweet-enough example of it for little ones. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.