Sleep Hearty, Ye Buckos! Charlotte Jane Battles Bedtime by Myra Wolfe

I LIKE TO GET ALL THE JUICE OUT OF MY DAY," CHARLOTTE JANE WOULD SAY.

BUT BEDTIME WAS NOT JUICY.

"NO ONE CAN BE HEARTY WITHOUT IT," SAID HER MOTHER.

CHARLOTTE JANE DID NOT AGREE.

ONE DARK NIGHT SHE DIDN'T GO TO BED AT ALL.

But although the swashbuckling Charlotte Jane would like to celebrate sending bedtime to the bottom of the briny, her morning doesn't dawn with as much oomph as usual. Her customary breakfast of cackle fruit doesn't tempt her. Cutlass competition with her bear, One-Eyed Tom, is, shall we say, dull. Treasure hunts are, well, a yawn, and Fantastic Feats of Derring-Do are a snooze.

"ARR!" SAID CHARLOTTE JANE. "MY OOMPH'S WEIGHED ANCHOR."

Aye, her swashbuckling style has sailed. Her pirating parents offer to mount a mission to find her oomph. But it's definitely not in the bathtub or linen closet. It's not to be found in the fridge and nowhere in the neighbor's recycling bin. Charlotte Jane wearily climbs the suddenly steep steps to her room in the fo'c'sle to search for her juicy joie de vivre.

AND THERE WAS HER FEATHERBED.

BEDTIME WAS NOT JUICY. SLEEP WAS FOR LANDLUBBERS.

BUT DREAMS...

CHARLOTTE JANE'S DREAMS...

...WERE RIP-ROARERS!

All's well that sleeps well, and with a good night's rest under her buccaneer's belt, Charlotte Jane finds her oomph restored in Myra Wolfe's bodacious debut book, Charlotte Jane Battles Bedtime (Harcourt, 2011), forthcoming September 6. This is a hearty corsairing bedtime tale, bejeweled with artwork by Maria Moneschillo, whose stylized seafaring illustrations sets our jibs just right to catch the wind. It seems we can never have too many pirate yarns in the picture book market, and this one, perhaps paired with Andrew Kramer's Pajama Pirates (recently reviewed here) will help young pirates get their YARR-YARRS out without too many bedtime battles. A sleepy-time treasure!