The Yawns Are Coming!

It's sleepover time for a young boy and his best friend, Noodles, and as with any good slumber party, their plans don't involve much sleep. The fun ends when the Yawns, physically depicted by a hoard of blue marshmallow creatures, descend. Try as they might, the pair are eventually caught. While this foe is no match for their willpower, the combined forces of Doze and company are. With adorable bedtime costumes, exaggerated expressions, and expressive fonts, this funny slumber party probably won't have readers yawning. Some may notice the hint, though, from the little lesson slipped in at the end. Eliopoulos's (Ordinary People Change the World) cute cartoons continue to grace the format. VERDICT Certain to be a favorite for many, this hilarious bedtime story will likely keep the kids up with laughter. Repeated reads may induce the desired effect.—Rachel Forbes, Oakville Public Library, Ont.

Eliopoulos (Monster Mayhem) has created a sneakily effective bedtime book focused on an interest shared by kids everywhere: valiantly resisting sleep. Two best friends, a brown-skinned narrator sporting a blue bear onesie and his guest, white-skinned Noodles, who wears a green dinosaur onesie, make a long list of sleepover plans--none of which, naturally, involves snoozing. The pair play games, jump on the trampoline, and collect fireflies, but their plan goes awry when, in the middle of a card game, Noodles frantically announces: "THE YAWNS ARE COMING!" Sure enough, hundreds of little blue, smiling creatures--the Yawns--soon swarm the friends, who "ran. And we climbed. And we sneaked. And we hid" before being caught out. The two begin to yawn, mouths wide open despite their protestations, when "SPLAP!" a glassy-eyed Doze lands on Noodles's head. Fluttering Snores arrive just behind it, and a calming, blanketlike Sleepie wraps the bear-suited boy up warm and safe. Amid fun-filled antics in Eliopoulos's signature style, his use of soothing cool colors plays out against ample white space, cleverly centering exaggerated yawns and bleary eyes that are all too easy to mimic, making for a surprisingly soporofic read. Ages 4-8. (Apr.)

"The vibrant, dynamic art calls up Winick's Hilo series, with playful, robust digital figures in cool-toned colors against white background, and the increasingly panicked and then sleepy expressions of the two pals match the book's action and pace." —BCCB