Sleepy Time Girl: Princess Baby Night Night by Karen Katz

"Princess Baby! Are you getting ready for bed?"

"But I'm NOT tired!"

The glittery crowned and shod tot we first met in Karen Katz' Princess Baby, (Schwartz & Wade, 2008) is back, in a bedtime tale that has the pint-sized princess wannabe a step ahead of her parents all the way.

Princess Baby is obviously not tired. In her trademark full-skirted and white-colared red polka-dot dress and gold glittered shoes, she's busy jumping on the bed with her favorite subjects, her teddy and the rest of her plush toys, when her parents call out from downstairs.

"Princess Baby, did you pick up all your toys?

Did you put them where they belong?"

"Yes, right where they belong!" she calls back.

Actually P.B. has picked them all up, given them a mass hug, and set each one carefully in its own little chair for the next step in the bedtime ritual.

"Princess Baby, did you put on your pajamas?"

Well, yes and no. Our princess has put them on, all right. On her teddy bear.

Has she brushed her teeth? Well, yes. All of the teeth belonging to her stuffed animals, that is, lining them up carefully on the floor and doing a very nice job of it, thank you.

By the time her parents inquire if she's had her bedtime sip of water, she can honestly answer in the affirmative. In fact, she's politely poured all of her subjects a nice teacup full of water, spilling only a little on the table and floor. And has she picked out her bedtime book? Well, "Not exactly one book," she calls back, seating her little plush friends in a storytime circle, each with their own bedtime book in their laps.

"Princess Baby, are you ready for a kiss?"

"Almost."

Princess Baby gives her bear a kiss and she and her bed-ready buddies line up in front of the window to do a bit of bed-time star gazing and moon watching, and when mom and dad come in to claim their kiss, their little one is already in dreamland, her head pillowed on Bear, and her toys asleep around her. Tucking her gently into bed, mom and dad quietly get their kiss. Night night, Princess Baby.

Katz's Princess Baby, Night-Night (Schwartz & Wade, 2009) is a sleepy-time tale which shows the bedtime baby turning the tables on her parents as she beds down her own charges, a satisfying story line that is bound to bring a sleepy chuckle to little listeners.