Name That Hymn Blog

How Do You Say Good Night is a new children’s book illustrated by Catalina Echeverri that chronicles the adventures of Zoey the Zebra as she visits different animals around Africa to learn how each group of animals says good night.

She visits a pride of lions, a sounder of warthogs, a herd of elephants, a flock of ostriches, a troop of monkeys, and a pod of hippopotamuses. In each visit, there’s a combination of real facts about the animals’ behavior, as well as some anthropomorphic tidbits thrown in that your youngster can identify with in his or her own bedtime routine (saying a good night prayer, having a snack, brushing teeth, etc.)

The illustrations of the animals are that unique combination of beautiful, cute and funny, and the background images of the African Savannah at sunset are beautiful.

I love that the book teaches about diversity–not “diversity” in the sense of the postmodern, politically correct definition of the word, but diversity in the sense that different animals (read: different cultures, races, ages, etc.) may have their own way of doing things which we can admire and learn from. But we can also take comfort and joy in what’s familiar to us too.

Overall, it’s a great book to add to your bedtime repertoire. It clocks in at just under 20 pages, and the paragraphs are short, perfect for setting the right tone before bed and even encouraging new readers to read. I do love how it reinforces in each visit the importance of thinking of God before going to bed, one thing you don’t find in secular books. But the illustrations and production quality rival any other board book out there.