Good Night Like This

PreS-K—Animal families ranging from mice to bears get ready to sleep. Each page depicts a new animal family snuggled together and then, with the use of a cutaway page, shows them fast asleep. At the end, the story urges readers to sleep, with a chorus of animals wishing them a "good night." This cozy story is a lovely addition to picture books about bedtime. Murphy's soft illustrations, created using ink and watercolor and then rendered digitally, use calm, muted colors to help depict a tranquil nighttime. The hand-lettered text consists of a bouncy, simple rhyme and repetition of the phrase "Good night…sleep tight, like this," making for a rhythmic read-aloud. A foil effect is used for both the lettering on the cover and the last page, which, though pretty, doesn't add much to the story. The cutaway pages, used consistently throughout, are much more effective, providing an engaging, interactive experience for readers, as they can transform the illustration from the animal being awake to asleep.