Close Your Eyes
A mother tiger wants her baby to go to sleep, but the little tiger  resists. "'If I close my eyes,' he said, 'I can't see the sky.'" She assures him  that he will not only see the sky when he sleeps, but will float among clouds  and be cradled by the moon. Not in the least assured, the little tiger complains  that if he closes his eyes, he will miss seeing the tree and the bird with blue  feathers. With each concern, his mother consoles him with a comforting thought.  If this gentle give-and-take were not calming enough for a bedtime story,  Hallensleben's lovely dreamscapes (And If the Moon Could Talk)  will surely do the trick. Double-page paintings of cloud animal shapes (with the  little tiger cozying up with the moon), the "big mountains where the rain  lives," and of mother tiger licking her baby are utterly hypnotic. Young  children who are afraid to go to sleep will learn that "Dark is just the other  side of light. It's what comes before dreams" and that mom is never very far  away. (Ages 3 to 6)--Karin Snelson