The Bedtime Rhyme — Walter Wangerin Jr.

“In a series of rhymes, Wangerin (Probity Jones and the Fear Not Angel) dispels a child's fear of the dark by teaching the lessons of God's love and presence. As the rhymes begin, a mother responds to her son's question: “How much do I love you? / Lay down your head, / My gingerbread, / And listen: I'll tell you.” She elaborates by telling him that if robbers should come into the room, “I'd clobber those robbers / Until they slobbered / And all their teeth decayed.” If her son is threatened by monsters, “I'd grab my reaper, / My vacuum sweeper, / And suck those monsters down!” After she reassures him that she will protect him against all things, the mother then tells her son, “Here in your room / All night while you're sleeping, / Kinder and wiser / And best for safekeeping / Is God.” Huang's illustrations capture the wildness of the child's imagination and provide just the right background for Wangerin's humorous rhymes. Ages 5-8.”