A little cowpoke is lulled to sleep by dreams of the sights and sounds of the Western landscape at night. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

To the soothing accompaniment of Root's (Someplace Else) moonlit prairie scenery, Appelt composes a lullaby for young buckaroos. As a soft sundown casts grassy hills in glowing orange, a blond boy in western attire ambles home to his mother's calls. He hangs up his white cowboy hat and slips under his covers. With a "Shhhhhh...," the scene shifts to a chuckwagon, a herd of sleepy steers and a crowd of cowhands lazing around a campfire. Despite the range-riding theme, there is no hooting or hollering. The boy rides up on a graceful palomino pony and dismounts quietly. A radiant pale-yellow moon gazes gently upon the tired group: "Close your eyes now, li'l pardner,/ lasso up those cowboy dreams./ La Luna's warmed your blanket/ in her satin silver beams." Appelt (Bat Jamboree) captures the romance of the bronco life in drawled, alliterative rhymes, and she spices her verse with a Tex-Mex flavor ("La Luna casts her lantern light/ across the chaparral"). Root's peaceful spreads, rendered in beefy brushstrokes of earth-tone gouache, evoke the same sundown hush as the text. Coyotes watch the campsite from a nearby rock, and a rusty-brown whippoorwill darts across a blue-green, starry firmament. Readers of Kate Banks and Georg Hallensleben's And If the Moon Could Talk will find the same tranquillity, albeit transplanted to a serene outdoor setting with sleeping bags and a crackling fire. Ages 4-7. (Feb.) From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

PreS-Gr 1‘Rhythmic rhymes and imaginative artwork combine in a cozy bedtime tale for young cowpokes. Addressed to a boy heading toward bed in his cowboy gear, the verses describe the nighttime beauty of the range: "Can you hear the river murmur/cross the valley deep and green?/Can you hear the night wind whistle/through the river's bedside trees?" As the evening scenes unfold, "La Luna" watches from above: "She'll keep her lantern glowing/as she slips across the sky." The moon and stars illuminate each double-page spread, softly lighting the world below and creating night scenes that are warm and inviting. In his imagination, the boy brushes down his horse, joins the cowhands around the fire, and falls asleep under the stars, head on his saddle. In the final scene, he is still dreaming of the open range. While bedtime tales are plentiful, this title stands out because of the setting. A gentler story than most cowboy yarns, it captures the peaceful side of the Wild West.‘Steven Engelfried, West Linn Public Library, OR From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Ages 3^-6. Cowpokes will ride into dreamland as they listen to the evocative words of Appelt's good-night poem: "The stars in soft-warm silver / dance above coyote's lair // You can see the nighthawk's shadow / as she lifts into the air." As Appelt takes young cowboys from their palomino ponies to their beds, illustrator Root shows the action outside as the boy in the story drifts off. Executed in twilight colors of golds, deep blues, nighttime blues, and moonlight silver, the art depicts both the wildlife on the trail getting ready for sleep and the cowboys settling down around the campfire. The pictures have an appropriate dreamlike feeling as stars and moonlight invade the bedroom as well as lighting the dark for those outside. Unfortunately, some of the humans have an unfinished look that detracts from the overall effect of the otherwise satisfying art. Cowboys may not be as much in vogue as they once were, but there are still plenty of kids who want to ride the range. Git along, little doggies. --Ilene Cooper From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.