Tjitji lullaby by Michael Ross and Zaachariacha Fielding

A strongly bound board book to acquaint younger readers with Australian animals and settings, while helping them form good habits of reading before going to sleep will stand multiple use by inexperienced hands eager to help turn the pages. Stars twinkle on the cover, as the sun sets in bright yellow and oranges, leading to the night sky and bedtime on the next eight double pages. Each double page mentions something to do with sleep in the lullaby: floating in clam water, sleep is the end of a gorgeous day, dreams will appear, and stars will come out in their billions.

So sleep comes along, the joey finally hopping into its mother’s pouch knowing she will be always there in the calmest of waters.

The song version can be viewed on Youtube here and here. And more information about the lullaby can be found here.

I loved the countdown to sleep from calm waters to the end of day, to the setting sun, to dreams, sleep, and stars, billions of them! Each set of words on each page leads the small child to the end of the journey - sleep. Images on each page reinforce the idea of the end of day and sleep, of sleep being the natural consequence of a good day, along with the setting sun and stars coming out. Each is a consequence of what has happened before, leading the child to sleep.

The original artwork by Lisa Kennedy reinforces the strength and comfort of family with the joey and its mother kangaroo appearing through the pages, a family of birds snuggling together in the nest and two platypus on the riverbank. All give comfort to the child going to sleep, the words and images reinforcing the community and its closeness.

Themes: Aboriginal lullaby, Sleep, Stars, Australian animals, Board book, Family.

Fran Knight