Ilene Cooper (Booklist, Oct. 1, 1993 (Vol. 90, No. 3))
Both parents and children should like this cozy good-night story. Against a blanket of blue sky full of golden stars, mother animals are putting their babies to sleep. Although the rhyme at times limps rather than lilts ("It's time for bed, little mouse, little mouse, / Darkness is falling all over the house"), there's a warmth to this that makes the whole more than the sum of its parts. Of course, one of the important parts is the art--striking watercolors that fill up the two-page spreads, showing a sheep and a lamb, a dog and a puppy, a cow and a calf, and others, the babies all with heavy lids, and the mothers affectionately nestling their young. The last mother-child duo is a mom and her curly-headed tot, who is wished sweet dreams and in the last picture is sound asleep. A pleasant prelude to slumber. Category: For the Young. 1993, Harcourt/Gulliver, $13.95. Ages 2-4.

Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
Writer Mem Fox and illustrator Jane Dyer have a special gift for portraying warm, loving families that provide comfort for small children. Their talents are combined in Time for Bed, a rhyming lullaby. Fox names and Dyer pictures twelve sets of animal parents bedding down their young with kisses, hugs, snuggles and tenderness. 1993, Harcourt, $15.00, $6.95 and $22.00 (big book). Ages 1 to 5.

Marilyn Bagel (Children's Literature)
This endearing bedtime book is perfect for winding down with little ones at the end of a busy day. After reading it, you'll feel good too! Each large two-page illustration radiates genuine affection and celebrates the love between moms of all kinds and their young, as they ready them for bed. Mommy mouse embraces her baby. A sheep and her lamb rub muzzles. Mother cow and her calf exchange loving glances. Mommy horse and her foal nuzzle each other. And on and on, concluding with a human mommy tucking her young child in bed with this thought: "The stars on high are shining bright--Sweet dreams, my darling, sleep well... good night!" This book will melt your heart. 1993, Harcourt Brace, $15.00, $6.95 and $22.00 (big book). Ages 1 up.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 1993)
It's time for bed, little mouse, little mouse / Darkness is falling all over the house." The opening sentence sets the pattern for a gentle bedtime story in which a mother mouse, goose, cat, cow, horse, fish, sheep, bird, bee, snake, dog, deer and human call their babies to bed. Appealing watercolor paintings show each of the animals in their natural setting, only slightly anthropomorphized in that, like the human child, all the animals are struggling to stay awake just a little bit longer. CCBC categories: Books For Babies And Toddlers; Picture Books. 1993, Gulliver / Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 32 pages, $13.95. Ages 18 months-4 years.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, 1993)
A gentle litany of good nights, ostensibly from various animals to their young ("It's time for bed, little mouse, little mouse,/Darkness is falling all over the house") but mostly more apposite to their human counterparts ("It's time for bed, little calf, little calf,/What happened today that made you laugh?"), ending, inevitably, with a human mother tucking in a child. Fox's couplets seem offhand compared to her best (e.g., Shoes from Grandpa, 1990); but some of Dyer's expansive double-spread watercolors are charming; their points of view are so close in that some animals appear life-size (the bees are oversize). Best are the shaggy, drowsy, contented ewe and her lamb; repeated on the jacket, they guarantee a constant audience for this appealing bedtime book. 1993, Harcourt Brace, $13.95. © 1993 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Roger Sutton (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, October 1993 (Vol. 47, No. 2))
Large, delicate watercolor double spreads illustrate Mem Fox's simple chant of baby animals being soothed to sleep by their parents: "It's time for bed, little mouse, little mouse,/ Darkness is falling all over the house." Each spread illustrates a variation on the couplet ("It's time for bed, little calf, little calf . . .") and while the overall effect is sweet, it's not sticky, and the rhyming has some nice surprises: "it's time for bed, little goose, little goose,/ The stars are out and on the loose." The paintings are dramatically designed with a flair that recalls Nancy Tafuri's work, but Dyer's pictures are warmer and engagingly detailed in their attention to the silky blonde hair on a dog and pup, or the hazy trees in the gloaming behind a mare and foal. The twinkly little five-point stars in the night are a clichéd touch, but the parent-and-baby pairs, closing with a human mother and child, are attentively focused in what could easily become a popular "last call" bedtime book. R--Recommended. (c) Copyright 1993, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 1993, Gulliver/Harcourt, 32p, $13.95. Ages 2-5 yrs.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, 1993)
A series of animal and human parents prepare their young for bed as darkness falls in this lullaby of rhyming couplets by the noted Australian author. The soothing text and sympathetic illustrations of parent-and-child pairs provide a fine bedtime story. Category: Fiction. 1993, Harcourt, 32pp.. Ages 5 to 9. Rating: 3: Recommended, satisfactory in style, content, and/or illustration.