Welcome to the pre-lose-an-hour-of-sleep-and-then-try-to-get-your-kids-to-go-to-bed-an-hour-early-this-weekend edition of Perfect Picture Book Friday!

Daylight Savings Time may have had a useful function at some point, but as far as I can tell, that point is not now.

Don’t worry, though! I have a solution! When your little ones don’t want to go to bed because it feels like it’s an hour too early, you can read them this wonderful book, set to the tune of Rock-A-Bye Baby! It will be just like a lullaby. Yes, some parts are about louder genres of music, but you can sing in your most soothing voice and everyone will be asleep in no time. Because that’s always how it works, right? 😊

Title: Rock ‘N’ Roll Baby

Written By: David McMullin

Illustrated By: Allison Black

Publisher: Random House BFYR, March 3, 2026, fiction, board book

Suitable For Ages: Baby – 3 years

Themes/Topics: music, musical genres, musical instruments

text copyright David McMullin 2026, illustration copyright Allison Black 2026, Random House

Opening:

“Rock ‘n’ Roll Baby, warm up your voice!
Give the whole world a cause to rejoice.

Look! It’s your fans! They’re here to engage,
So slide on your knees and take center stage.”

text copyright David McMullin 2026, illustration copyright Allison Black 2026, Random House

Brief Synopsis: [from the publisher] “Rock on, Baby! Explore a day in the life of a baby, from waking up to bedtime, through different types of rock ’n’ roll music. A dazzling rework of the classic lullaby “Rock-a-bye Baby”!”

text copyright David McMullin 2026, illustration copyright Allison Black 2026, Random House

Links To Resources: Fun activities provided by author David McMullin! Thank you, David!

Dance-

Freeze Dance: Dance wildly to music, then freeze when it stops (use classic rock songs for variety!).
Scarf Dancing: Use silk scarves or ribbons to mimic sounds or feelings in the music (swirling, floating).

Instruments-

Tin Can Drums: Decorate tin cans and use them to drum along to music.
Kitchen Percussion Band: Tap different kitchen utensils (wooden spoons, whisks) on pots and bowls to explore high/low sounds.

Music-

Rock Playlist: Create a playlist with kid-friendly rock and talk about the different instruments you hear.
Emotion Matching: Play songs with different moods (happy, sad, silly) and ask kids how the music makes them feel, then dance it out. 

Tips for Success-

Keep it short and fun.
It’s about exploring sound and movement, not perfect rhythm.
Join in and model the actions.

text copyright David McMullin 2026, illustration copyright Allison Black 2026, Random House

Why I Like This Book: This bright, engaging book introduces youngest readers to ten different genres of music via a fun to read – or sing! – aloud rhyming spin on the beloved lullaby, Rock-A-Bye Baby. How clever is that? A book about music that you can sing to a lullaby! That’s right up there in the “wish I thought of that” category! A board book, it is small (and sturdy) enough for little hands, and the bold, colorful illustrations will beckon babies to examine them, while the rhythm, rhyme, and fun of the text will have little ones begging to read it over and over. A great choice for any budding little musician on your list!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 😊

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific blog links (and any other info you feel like filling out 😊) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! 😊

David is a children’s book writer, illustrator, and poet. His books are FREE TO BE FABULOUS! (Clarion at HarperCollins), ROCK ’N’ ROLL BABY (Crown at Penguin/Random House) and an unannounced early reader series coming out next fall.  Honors include an SCBWI Ann Whitford Paul Award, an Astra International Picture Book Writing Contest award, and he was the 2021 Madness Poetry champion. He has been a Mentor for several programs. David and his husband are currently full time world travelers, bird nerds, and YouTubers. In past careers he was a Broadway actor, an educator, and a children’s librarian.
David’s Website