Baby, Sleepy Baby

There’s an abundance of tenderness and warmth in this latest Atinuke/Angela Brooksbank collaboration.

Drawing upon a Nigerian lullaby sung to her by her father, Atinuke begins each sentence of her magical sounding text with the title refrain or similar, ‘Baby, happy baby, / I’ll sing down the stars //till they dance / right into your room.’ This probably comes from the infant’s mother who is shown holding the infant at that point whereas Dad is apparently addressing the baby he lifts skywards with, ‘Baby, lovely baby, / I’ll pull down the black sky / to wrap you in night’s / soft blankets.

The title page introduces all the family and then on subsequent stunningly gorgeous spreads we see the baby being passed from mother to a young girl sibling and then a grandmother before all the family gathers lovingly around, after which Dad has his turn to hold the little one, beneath the stars.

Every spread is suffused with love and in addition to human embraces we understand that the wind, clouds, stars and moon also bestow their blessings upon the sleepy little one. Finally, with a sense of inner peace and surrounding calm, it’s time to drift gently off into the land of dreams.

This is the perfect book to give a family with a new baby.