Can't Help It! I Dare You Not To Yawn by Helene Boudreau and Serge Bloch

YAWNS ARE SNEAKY.

THERE YOU ARE, MINDING YOUR OWN BUSINESS, BUILDING THE TALLEST BLOCK TOWER IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE... WHEN SUDDENLY...

YOUR MOUTH OPENS WIDE, YOUR TONGUE CURLS BACK, AND ... mmmm-MMM.

Yawns are known to be infectious, even when you're not even sleepy. But the yawn is not the problem. As every kid comes to know, at a certain time at night parents are on red alert for any signs that a kid might be ready for bedtime.

That's when it is important to stifle even the thought of a yawn--at all costs. A simple yawn means getting the bum's rush through bath and tooth-brushing, pajamas and bedtime stories, goodnight hugs, and--Geez Louise! The next thing you know, it's LIGHTS OUT. There you are, eyes wide open, lying there in a dark room and wondering "How did I get here?"

Bedtime avoidance strategies are complex, but any savvy nighty-night veteran soon learns the ropes. Avert your gaze if your baby brother or dog begins to yawn. Those things are contagious! Keep your distance from fuzzy stuffed animals, especially any with which you have been known to sleep! No sheepy sleepy-time tunes either. And watch out for any song that Mom used to use to sing you to sleep when you were little! Look deeply engaged, keep a low profile, and...Good luck!

Helene Boudreau's newest, I Dare You Not to Yawn (Candlewick, 2013), wisely makes a wary bedtime avoidance champ the narrator of this little mock cautionary tale, and veteran picture book artist Serge Bloch contributes his truly comic talents to those funny illustrations which take this story over the top. Cagey parents will do well to make this one part of their bedtime routine and yawn a lot while they read it!