Hush, Little Ones

My daughter and I both love this book. The pictures are very sweet- each one includes a baby animal and the parent snuggled up for bed. My daughter picks this book and "While You Were Sleeping" also by John Butler, every night! I highly recommend them both.

I have been reading this book to my son at naps/bedtime since he was 8 months. Now, he's a good kid, but he doesn't sit still for EVERY book I try to read to him -- but this one he loves EVERY time. Even if he's fussy, this is the book I pick up first, and he usually settles down right away. If he's really fussy, he settles down by the "Zebra" page, guaranteed. You know that commercial for Staples with the red "easy" button? Well, for bedtime, this book is the "easy" button. Even before he could understand the story or theme in a book, my son loved the "sing-song" of the text. The review on the back cover says it reads like a "lullaby", and that is a perfect description. Not too many words on a page (so he doesn't get bored), and the word choice and the rhyming make it perfect for bedtime! We rock in our rocker, with a soft lamp nearby, clean after his bath, warm in his pj's, and look at the book with the fuzzy animals in their soft bedtime environments... The pictures are simply beautiful, and John Butler adds a little, sweet, tender "character" to the face of each animal. I loved this book so much I went out and bought several (3) of John Butler's other books, "Whose Nose and Toes," and others. However, I haven't been able to get my son as interested in them. They are a little more advanced, requiring interaction, memory, identification, etc. I think we will wait 4-5 months (when he's 2 years) before they will be age-appropriate. BUT, this book is perfect for babies and beyond! I will start reading it when our next child is 1 month old, and I am certain it will work! I HIGHLY recommend this book for any small child. Reading to kids when they are young is ESSENTIAL for future success in school and beyond!

John Butler is a great illustrator. I love how this books shows all the baby animals sleeping with their families, in their own habitats and how as you turn the pages the sky turns from a late sunset to evening on the last pages. This was one of my son's favorite bedtime books since he was 15 months old. Now that he is 3, we read it often and can talk about the different places where animals sleep and how they find shelter with one another.

Day in and day out, baby animals are tucked into bed by their loving parents, and lulled to sleep by the sound of their heartbeats. A penguin curls in tight between his Father's feet, a kangaroo heads off to dreamland in her Mother's pouch, and so on, and so on. John Butler's HUSH, LITTLE ONES is a delightful bedtime story that will appeal to both young children, and their parents. The prose is delightful, and will tucker a young child out when a parent reads this story to him or her in a soothing voice, while the gorgeous illustrations will quickly bring the story to life. Overall this is a wonderful book to purchase, especially for those looking for a cute bedtime story for their children. Erika Sorocco Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

This book is just wonderful. I read it to my 9-month-old daughter frequently. The illustrations of the baby animals will evoke an "awwww" in everyone. The ratio of text to picture is good for young children who don't like to look at the same page for too long, and the book is just the right length...long enough for a good cuddle but short enough for young attention spans.