Rich imagery, gentle rhythm and soothing repetition will lull your little one to sleep as the tulips close for the night, one by one. In this bedtime story written as an Italian villanelle, poet Gillian Sze makes use of the poetic forms of cyclic pattern and rhyme scheme to create a melodious lullaby.

A young child comes in from picking flowers as the creatures around their home all settle down for the evening. Songbirds curl against their mothers’ sides, the house slumps and sighs low, a hush settles as times slows. And little readers are invited to rest their heads and be soothed to sleep as moonlight falls on eyes that close.