Goodnight, Joeys by Renee Treml

All baby marsupials are known as joeys, and this lovely easily held board book shows a younger audience the range of joeys in Australia as they go to bed. Informing as well as helping the child settle at bed time through seeing how other animals go to sleep, the board book will be a favourite with its views of the night sky, and the joey snuggling down into their nests.

Joeys are all quite different, some spotted, some flying, some large and cumbersome looking, many are nocturnal, and Treml uses some of their attributes to inform the text. Younger readers will learn of the wombat joeys romping underground, the mice joeys running on the cool soil, the flying joeys gliding from one tree to another, leading through to the beautiful striped number joeys nestling down to sleep. Each page includes a soft reminder that sleep time is upon them, giving information about the joey, all done in wonderfully soothing soft pastel coloured images and accompanied by soothing verses. The second to last page shows a koala cuddling her joey while going off to sleep and turning over the the last page reminds children that it is now their sleep time, as the day is done.

This is a lovely board book to read with younger children as they go to bed, reminding them that all animals sleep and have a bed time, and it is now their bed time too.

Themes: Animals, Joeys, Sleep, Bed time, Verse.

Fran Knight