Amy Bates

It’s summer! A family of five (plus dog) pack up their van and head to the beach, unpack and begin their first day of vacation. Watercolors depict the exuberant family and are a fine complement to the staccato, rhyming text.

A quiet, country life is evoked as a mother sings a lullaby to her daughter before placing the toddler in a cozy outdoor cradle. There, mother plays the guitar, singing to the sleeping child. Visual allusions to nursery rhymes (and even Elvis Presley) extend the lullaby and its rural setting.