This Is The Way We Go To Sleep: Good Night, Good Night, by Sandra Boynton

THE SUN HAS SET NOT LONG AGO.

A boat, not unlike an ark, loaded with a variety of animals, from bunnies to bear, puppy to elephant, sails by in the setting sun.

NOW EVERYBODY GOES BELOW.

The sun is gone, but there are still duties to be done.

The animals take a bath, dry off, and hang their towels neatly on the wall. Rhino leads the way with pajamas for all.

WITH SOME ON TOP AND SOME BENEATH

THEY BRUSH AND BRUSH AND BRUSH THEIR TEETH.

It's up a deck to huff and puff with lifts, sit-ups, rope jumping, and toe touching.

And down again to go to bed, some at the foot, some at the head.

It's "Good night, off with the light!"

THE SEA IS DEEP--

And so is their sleep!

In her 1982 revision of this longer version of The Going-To-Bed Book, Sandra Boynton's just-published Good Night, Good Night: The original longer version of The Going to Bed Book (Little Simon, 2021 ed.), the routines and rituals of bedtime provide the plot, as author-illustrator Boynton's charming and humorous illustrations feature double-page spreads with her jolly and idiosyncratic crew preparing to go gently into that good night. As always, Sandra Boynton's distinctive soothing and sweet bedtime books are in a class by themselves.

Superheroes Need Sleep! Bedtime for Superheroes by Katherine Locke

EVERYBODY KNOWS superheroes have busy days!

EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT BEING A SUPERHERO IS HARD AND MESSY WORK!

Besting bad guys requires the right gear--anywhere from tutus and tights to capes and coats, hoods and cowls. Some superheroes go undercover in ordinary tees and jeans!

Fighting evil generates a lot of noise, too!

BASHES AND BAMS! CRASHES AND KAPOWS! ZAPS AND ZOINKS!

Superheroes have to be versatile--able to fight octopuses and robots, natural disasters and dinosaurs in any setting, from the library to the grocery, as well as in shadowy alleys! It's yucky work!

EVERYBODY KNOWS BAD-GUY GOO--STICKY, STAINS, SMEARS, AND SPLATS!

BLECH!

It's hard work, but somebody's got to do it! But when the sun goes down, superheroes need baths and toothbrushing--and bedtime! Wherever they snooze, from beddie-bye to rocket ship, everybody agrees...

SUPERHEROES NEED SLEEP!

Being a kid requires a lot of super-duper powers to get through the day, and Katherine Locke's Bedtime for Superheroes (Running Press Kids, 2020), affirms that bedtime is sometimes one of the most demanding deeds of the day for both parent and child, with ordinary little heroes who require that special magic--sleep--that helps them grow and polish their powers. Artwork by Rayanne Viera shows all kinds of superkids doing super deeds with zest and settling down to sleep as well. Share this one with Shelly Becker's Even Superheroes Have Bad Days. Read my review here.

Riding the Rails: Chugga Chugga Choo Choo by Kevin Lowe

SUN'S UP. MORNING'S HERE! 

UP AND AT 'EM, ENGINEER!

CHUGGA CHUGGA CHOO CHOO!

WHISTLE BLOWS. 

WHOOOOOOOOO! WHOOOOOOOOO!

A Teddy bear and all the toys wave to the engineer and boy as the train as a clown oversees the loading of boxcars and the choo choo pulls out of the station. The old-fashioned locomotive, drivers driving, begin the journey, pulling a coal car, freight cars, and a red caboose. The train winds through the room under a chair and over its rocker as train lovers, a man and boy, a cowboy on horseback, and a barking dog watch it pass. Through the Box Mountains and wooden-blocks pass the little train goes. And then...

INTO THE TUNNELS, UNDERGROUND.

SEE THE DARKNESS, HEAR THE SOUND! WHOOOOOOOOOO!

Then the train crosses the long bridge over the river, and not far ahead is their destination--the city. A dog walker waves to the boy and the engineer as the train slows down for the station, where strong workers wait to unload the freight--a box of penguins and a box of dog bones come off first as the boxcars grow empty.  And then, down goes the sun.

THE JOB IS DONE!

And into the roundhouse the engine, coal car, freightcars, and caboose all head.

It getting dark and it's time for bed, in Kevin Lowe's vintage choo choo story, Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo (Disney Hyperion). With jolly rhymes and the rhythm of the rails, this old-fashioned little train story takes young children gradually and gently toward bedtime, as Daniel Kirk's illustrations mix rounded Playskool-type figures and geometric shapes in soft, muted pastels. Kirk is also the noted illustrator of the popular Library Mouse series, Ten Things I Love About You, and his 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. (See reviews here.)

Night-Frights! Pippa's Night Parade by Lisa Robinson

Pippa loves listening to wild, imaginative stories about all kinds of things that go bump in the night.

But when it's night and the lights go off, they return to worry her.

VILLAINS

AND MONSTERS

AND BEASTS.

Oh, my!

One night a horned dragon comes roaring out of her favorite story! Then a bearded pirate wants to feed her to the sharks! And is that a grouchy bear at her door?

Nobody wants to go to bed with those things around.

Pippa doesn't just lie there. She runs to her parents' room! But they always bring her back to her own bed.

But Pippa has a PLAN.

She leaves an invitation inside all her favorite scary storybooks.

SHARPEN YOUR CLAWS!

PREPARE YOUR FUR AND PAWS!

COME SCARE THE PANTS OFF PIPPA!

And when all else fails, Pippa designs costume wardrobes for each beast and brute and baddie, They try on top hats and tutus, ballgowns and boas, and, of course, matching purses and shoes.

"STRUT YOU STUFF!" SAYS PIPPA.

The creatures have a blast, parading and posing until they're too pooped to pop. And when they drop off to sleep, Pippa cruises to her own bed for a good night's snooze.

Pippa discovers that with her imagination, she can beat the storybook monsters at their own game, in Lisa Robinson's Pippa's Night Parade (Two Lions Press, 2019).  Artist Lucy Fleming provides the storybook baddies, and Pippa creates the posh garb to keep her mental monsters nattily attired and ultimately too tired to cause trouble in a bedtime story that turns the tables on nighttime fears.

Snug in the Storm: Goodnight, Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle

The birds are swiftly winging their way toward their nests, and with best friend Toad at the wheel, Little Blue Truck is heading homeward, too. Lightning is starting to flash as they dash toward their snug garage.

Such a wet and stormy night!
Their warm garage was a welcome sight.

But before they even close the door, they have a guest with a request!

"Maaaaa!" said Goat. "Please, Little Blue!"
"Can I come in and stay with you?

And Goat is only the first to arrive. Hen flies her coop to roost on top of Little Blue, followed one by one by the other farmyard animals--Goose, Pig, and Duck, who take cover in the warm, dry garage. Pig wriggles in under Little Blue, and Duck and Goose flap and ruffle their feathers to shake off the rain. Even Cow shows up to squeeze into the now quite crowded little red garage.

Somehow, when they're all together, the lightning's crashes and flashes don't seem so very scary!

The storm ends with a bit of soft rain, and with a jolly, "Climb right in!" Little Blue Truck gives the sleepy friends all a ride back to their waiting coop and perches, stall and pen.

The rain had stopped,and way up high,
the moon was a smile in a starry sky.

With the happy image of the crescent moon's smile, a dark and stormy night ends with kind words and comforting companionship, in Alice Schertle's forthcoming sequel in her beloved series,Good Night, Little Blue Truck (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019). Author Schertle's perfect little rhymes offer soothing succor, and for kids who find crashy, flashy thunderstorms a bit frightening, with the comfort of companionship they find that a nighttime rainstorm may even induce a few yawns. With jolly illustrations "in the style of the late series illustrator Jill McElmurry," artist John Joseph keeps the rustic scene warm and sweet with McElmurry's familiar soft pastels and rounded touch.

Who wouldn't want to ride out a scary storm and be put to bed with Little Blue Truck! It's the best bad-weather bedtime story ever! Share this one with Schertle's seasonal Little Blue Truck's Halloween (see review here.)

Jolly Season Sleep-Aid! Santa and the Goodnight Train by June Sobel

SANTA'S COMING! HO HO HO!
THE GOODNIGHT TRAIN IS ALL AGLOW.

ENGINE'S SHINED, LOOKING JOLLY.
STRUNG WITH LIGHTS, DECKED WITH HOLLY!

ALL ABOARD. SLOW AND STEADY.
CAREFUL NOT TO DROP YOUR TEDDY!

It's no secret that for youngsters, falling asleep is difficult on Christmas Eve.

So what could be more timely than a special sleepytime express, The Goodnight Train, sporting a big wreath on its boiler and pulling special sleeping cars, each one a cozy sleigh bed for tired but excited tots. As he boards, one boy drops his bed-buddy-bear, just as it's all aboard for the little night-capped and pajama-ed passengers, and with a WHOOOO WHOOOO and a JINGLE JINGLE the Goodnight Train heads out for Destination Dreamland.

Lucky for that little rider, the lost Teddy catches a ride on Santa's sleigh as they zoom through a gingerbread town, the merry locomotive shining its light into the night, and the missing Teddy drops down right where he is supposed to be as Santa flies on.

Meanwhile Santa's sleigh has a temporary delay, but soon all is set aright, and his reindeer fly again through the night. With its load of snoozing sleepers, each one now gifted and with the boy's Teddy back in his arms, the Goodnight Train chugs on, its job well done. Santa sighs with relief, finally heading back to his workshop on Christmas Eve.

This just-published holiday sequel to June Sobel's train series, with its Christmasy sparkles and colors by illustrator Laura Hutiska Beigh and Sobel's soothing rhyming verses, Santa and the Goodnight Train (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019) may be just the bedtime story to send non-somnolent youngsters off to sleep on Christmas Eve, especially when shared with Sobel's The Goodnight Train and The Goodnight Train Rolls On! (board book).

Wait For It!!! Tomorrow Most Likely by Dave Eggers

TOMORROW! TOMORROW! I LOVE YOU, TOMORROW!

YOU'RE ONLY A DAY AWAY!

Whether it's been a great day, an okay day, or a real bummer of a day, most kids hate to hang it up and retire to their beds!

But youngsters, who have SO many tomorrows before them, should rejoice at what awaits.

Tomorrow most likely there will be a door that leads to the world.

Tomorrow most likely you will touch something gooey.

You might eat a cloud. You might write a song and sing it too loud.

There are mountains of time... oceans of faces, canyons of color, and skies full of places.

Tomorrow is great because you will be there in it, says author Dave Eggers in his newest Tomorrow Most Likely (Read Aloud Family Books, Mindfulness Books for Kids, Bedtime Books for Young Children, Bedtime Picture Books) (Chronicle Books, 2019). Eggers' song of things to come is illustrated resplendently by Caldecott artist Lane Smith, using sponge prints, scratchboard, and unusual color combinations to express the uniqueness of each new day. CARPE DIEM!

"An outstanding storytime selection," says School Library Journal's starred review.

The Play's The Thing! Night Play: A Bedtime Story in Three Acts by Lizi Boyd

Little Arlo is already attired in his stripey pajamas and paper nightcap and is ready to head for bed. But his toy bedtime buddies are not!

"I'm so sleepy. Just one more play and off to bed." Arlo says.

"Oh, yay!" says Bunny.

"Hooray!" says Cat

"Yippee!" says 'Coon.

"Starring Arlo and Friends!" announces Bird.

It's ACT I. The curtain is pulled back, revealing a backdrop of a lake with sailboats and a small island in the center. Arlo's menagerie of stuffed animals get to work as stagehands and impromptu actors. Oars for the sailboat are located, and Bird scouts out the wind, but it seems their little audience, Arlo, is already dozing.

"Let him sleep! We'll do Act II!"

The curtain opens again upon a medieval scene, as Cat hands out the costumes, but rest of cast finds their knightly stage garb too itchy, too heavy, and too hard to see out of. The production seems to falling apart. Sets get haphazardly switched, with grumpy actors going off-script and getting downright rowdy.

At last, Arlo wakes up and takes charge of the production. The cast of characters fall in line and follow the director. The show must go on, and together they complete the play.

And in a dramatic final sweep of the curtain comes ACT III...

All sail away...

And cast and crew and Arlo, too, sail off to dreamland at last, in Lizi Boyd's latest, Night Play (Chronicle Books, 2018). Ever since Wynken and Blynken and Nod sailed off one night into a sea of dew, kids have been drifting off to dreamland with a bedtime story, and this beddie-bye tale showing toys and little sleeper Arlo cooperating to create their own backdrops (presumably painted by the stage crew between pages) allows them to perform the roles in their own play.

Youngsters will love artist Boyd's text, with plenty of speech balloons delivered by the plushy performers, as well as her skillful manipulation of the toy-and-movable format which uses die-cut pages to provide the opening and closing stage curtain between scenes. It's a novel bedtime story, concluding in a showstopper of a double-page gatefold as the performers, their night play over, take their bows and toddle offstage to bed. This book is something of a tour-de-force for Lizi Boyd, whose earlier sleeping-out bedtime tale, Flashlight, similar in style if not in palette, was a hit in its clever use of black and white contrasts. (see review here).

A Little Night Music? Duck On A Disco Ball (A Duck in the Fridge Book) by Jeff Mack

Every night it's the same story. Kids ask the same old question.

"Why can't I stay up late like you?"

Parents give the same old answers.

"Because we're grown ups, kiddo.

Little guys need their sleep."

But this kid has pertinent what-ifs: what if his toy duck gets hungry? What if he misses a big party? What if a huge rock rolls into the house?

No luck! He's tucked in with his lovie Ducky and a kiss on the cheek. Same old same old! But why is there always a hint of something he's missing? Like why did he find Duck in the fridge one morning? Or on top of the disco ball? There's got to be another reason why he's always being given the bum's rush to bed!

So one night I listened.

But I couldn't believe what is saw...

It's a wild and crazy parent PAR-TEE! His pajama-clad parents jump on the couch, and Duck does cannonballs on the cushions, while dogs, monkeys, and cows crash the party, telling dumb jokes.

"I just ordered a pizza!"
"Great! Will it be long?"
"No. It'll be round."

The party-goers' noshing trashes the house, as Mom grabs a guitar and Dad shouts into the mike:

"I WANNA ROCK!"

Duck heads out, promising to procure one, and soon the living room is hit with a huge Rolling Stone!

"Heavy" says one hipster quipster.

"It doesn't get any boulder!" says the other.

At which point the parents drift out the window and fly through the moonlit sky with Duck, until they finally return just before dawn to bed down for some shuteye.

And when the kid wakes up, the house is just like he left it. Was it all just a crazy dream? But then...

Why is Duck conked out behind the sofa--with a guitar?

It's a wild and crazy night in Jeff Mack's Duck on a Disco Ball (A Duck in the Fridge Book) (Two Lions Books, 2018). Mack's narration is laugh-out-loud funny, and his comic digital illustrations fit the text, sometimes done in spot-art vignettes, sometimes in full-bleed pages or double-page spreads as the action zooms out or focuses in on the kid who can't wait for his turn to stay up late. It's a bedtime story that fits kids' dreams. Pair this wise-quacking tale with Mack's prequel. Says Booklist, "This goofy bedtime drama is a worthy sequel to Duck in the Fridge (A Duck in the Fridge Book).

Till When?: I'll Love You Till The Cows Come Home by Kathryn Cristaldi

I'll love you till the yaks come back

for a crazy snack...

In a Cadillac.

How do I love thee? There are lots of ways in literature to count up how, how much, and how long, and Kathryn Cristaldi's just-published I'll Love You Till the Cows Come Home (Harper, 2018) uses the old saying with a comic twist to answer kids' pertinent question for parents... Till when?

I'll love you till seals set sail
for the Isle of Kale.

Past manatees and a humpback whale....

Love will last till all the yaks climb out of their Caddy, till the ants march in with chocolate cake on their chins, to bed down with geese and wandering sheep, and wolves and deer and frogs who all close their eyes...,

Till the moon sprinkles moondust from the skies....

And with a wonderful bit of rhyming whimsy from author Cristaldi, the cows do come home in the gloaming--from a mission to Mars, disembarking from their spaceship just in time for bed. Artist Kristyna Litten portrays fanciful animals--frogs on big wheels, geese flapping down for a bedtime snack of melty s'mores--and it all ends with the answer to the question: Till when?

I will love you till then, and again and again....

Of this quirky bedtime tale, Kirkus Reviews, jokes, "In a crowded genre, this zany title is out standing in its field—along with the cows."

Storycraft Lesson? Interrupting Chicken and the Elephant of Surprise by David Ezra Stein

Who doesn't love storybook elephants? But this is ridiculous!

Little Red Chicken can't wait to tell Papa what amazing thing she learned at school!

"Papa, today our teacher told us every story has a elephant of surprise. So let's read a story and we'll find the elephant!"

"Chicken, she wasn't talking about an elephant," said Papa.

"She was talking about the element of surprise!"

Papa carefully explains the literary device, but Little Red is too excited about the fun of finding elephants to pay attention. She pulls out the story of "The Ugly Duckling." Papa shrugs and goes along with the elephant hunt and lets Little Red Chicken begin to read.

..."The duckling walks into the water and says, "Surprise! I'm an elephant!'"

Papa resists, insisting there's no elephant in that story. But Little Red insists with the irrefutable line parents dread, "My teacher said...!"

Rapunzel turns out to be an elephant with long braids. The Little Mermaid grows elephant legs.

"Chicken, this is SILLY," pronounces Papa Chicken.

There's an elephant of surprise in every story all right, in David Ezra Stein's Interrupting Chicken and the Elephant of Surprise (Candlewick Books, 2018). The witty Stein's devoutly comedic story and charmingly comic illustrations hit the sweet spot of silliness, the same one as his Caldecott Honor first book, Interrupting Chicken, achieved, a new high in witty interchanges between parent and child, full of giggles and camaraderie. Says Kirkus Reviews, "Little Chicken is back, and her metafictive editorial impulses are as strong as ever.... Fans of the two loving characters will be delighted to see them again. Unsurprisingly good."

Bedtime Resistance Revisited: Sleepy, The Bedtime Buddy by Drew Daywalt

Roderick hated going to bed.

Roderick has apparently polished his bedtime resistance routine for years. In addition to the old standbys--a drink of water and another story, he can keep his parents going for quite a while coming up with reasons why he CANNOT have a pony--including the irrefutable...

... Ponies won't use a litter box.

It's time for some serious parental intervention--in the form of a "special" plush pal.

"His name is Sleepy," said his mother.

"He's your goodnight buddy," said his father.

Roderick's parents put him to bed with Sleepy. Sleepy's spooky stare is hard to take, and Roderick tries stashing him out of sight--on the bookshelf, under his pillow. But he can still FEEL that weird gaze. He sticks Sleepy in the closet.

"Wait!" said a quiet little voice. "Don't leave me alone in here."

Roderick can't believe Sleepy is actually telling him he's scared.

"Of what?" Roderick asked. "You were staring at me all freaky looking
."

"Because you were staring at me all freaky looking," said Sleepy.

Roderick soon finds out that Sleepy knows all the tricks. He politely asks for a glass of water. Then he has to go to the bathroom "because of all the water," but he's scared to go by himself. Then he remembers that he forgot to brush his teeth. He promises to go to sleep after one story. And then he asks for another. The story scares him, so he needs a snack to settle his nerves.

"It's the middle of the night!" Roderick shouted.

Of course, after a sandwich Sleepy has to brush his teeth again. And then he's worried about a witch in the closet. Finally, he wants to talk about the meaning of life. Roderick is both weary and angry.

"I can't sleep because you're mad at me!" whines Sleepy.

"You're the worst bedtime buddy EV-er!"

Roderick the bedtime resistor has met his match, in spades, in Drew Daywalt's laugh-out-loud latest, Sleepy, the Goodnight Buddy (Disney Hyperion, 2018). Sleepy's tactics exhaust Roderick in a turn-about-is-fair-play tale with a comic comeuppance. Daywalt's offbeat humor works well in this story, which somehow ends with sympathy for the parents, Roderick, and even his roommate Sleepy. Parents who are running out of patience with young sleep avoiders will get both revenge and a mutual laugh with their kids, thanks to the absolutely comical illustrations of artist Scott Campbell, whose portrayal of Roderick's eyes tell the whole story. Cannily, Campbell even tucks a clever little sight gag in on the colophon page--a new toy, Wakey, The Good Morning Buddy Alarm Clock.

Drew Daywalt is, of course, the blockbusting best-selling author of The Day the Crayons Quit and its sequels (read reviews here).

Bunnicula Returns? Big Bunny by Rowboat Watkins

Once upon a time, there was a BIG BUNNY.

So begins the purported bedtime story, as parent and child cuddle cozily together in bed under a carrot-printed coverlet. Time for little bunnies to settle down to beddy-bye?

Not exactly. This BIG BUNNY is not cut out to be a warm and fuzzy bedtime bunny. In this fractured bedtime story, the young one, seeking something scary, kidnaps the main character, the would-be centerpiece of this nighty-night tale. He interrupts....

A ginormously SCARY bunny?

The parent tries to continue the narration of a regular big bunny who lives, not on a gigantic carrot asteroid careening in space, but a regular, round planet and eats, not monstrous carrots, but just nice normal orange carrots, not too small, carrots that...

When do we get to the SCARY part?

The storyteller tries to beef up the tale, allowing his Big Bunny to have terrible manners, eating ten carrots at a time, swallowing them whole. Truckloads of carrots....

Does Big Bunny EAT the trucks?

The narrator nixes any suggestions that the trucks have more taste and crunch, but does allow a concession, giving them a horrible fate--stuck in traffic-- requiring the penguins who drive the trucks to construct bridges to give them a way out of the jam.

Penguins drive trucks? This story is WORSE than traffic!

By this time, this bedtime bunny story is well on its way to becoming the story of the Big Bunny Who Ate Cleveland, or whatever city it is that he wants to crunch! The beleaguered storyteller objects, speaking with the voice of reason....

BUILDINGS AREN'T EDIBLE!

I wouldn't tell Big Bunny that.

By this time, our young storyline pirate has totally taken over the whole plotline, in Rowboat Watkins' bizarre bedtime story, Big Bunny (Chronicle Books, 2018). And, sure enough, there's still a surprise in Watkins' next-to-last two-page spread where the, um, crunchy identity of the two storytellers is revealed and a really SCARY conclusion is, well, foreshadowed! Rowboat Watkins' picture books are cleverly conceived and illustrated with an iconic and ironic sense of humor that pleases young readers. "The infectious fun continues to the ending, which will be—trust me—a giant, hilarious surprise to both parents and kids," says The New York Times Book Review.

Share this one with Watkin's weird hit story, Rude Cakes (see review here) and do not miss this chance to read the Aaron Reynolds' Caldecott-winning Creepy Carrots! and Creepy Pair of Underwear! (reviews here).

Shut-Eye Time! YAWN! Grumpy Cat, A Grumpy Cat Bedtime Story by Steve Foxe

"GRUMPY CAT! IT'S ALMOST BEDTIME!

IT'S OUR LAST CHANCE TO PLAY TODAY!"

It's that odd couple of cats again--Little Kitten, who can't say anything without an exclamation point, and Grumpy Cat, who can't say anything without a grimace.

Little Kitten is ebullient, ardent, and keen on everything.

Grumpy Cat is curmudgeonly, contrarian, and recalcitrant about anything.

Little Kitten drags Grumpy Cat through the whole miserable bedtime routine--bathtub toys and floods of suds, perky look-alike pajamas, and especially the obligatory bedtime story.

"I READ A STORY ONCE. IT WAS AWFUL!" GROUCHES GRUMPY.

But Little Kitten's begging results in a grudging compromise from Grumpy Cat:

"LET'S SKIP TO THE BEST PART!

THEY ALL LIVED GRUMPILY EVER AFTER.

THE END!"

Grumpy Cat is back in his third storybook for youngsters, in Steve Foxe's Yawn! A Grumpy Cat Bedtime Story (Grumpy Cat) (Little Golden Book) (Golden Books, 2018 ). Grumpy's reaction to everything is a virtual YAWN, and bedtime with Grumpy Cat is predictably no sweet snooze in this latest little tale, illustrated appropriately in drab and dusky shades by Steph Laberis. Other books in the Grumpy cat series include A Is for Awful: A Grumpy Cat ABC Book (Grumpy Cat) (Little Golden Book), Grumpy Cat's First Worst Christmas (Grumpy Cat) (Big Golden Book) and The Little Grumpy Cat that Wouldn't (Grumpy Cat) (Little Golden Book).

Bedtime Resistors--UNITE! Penguin and Tiny Shrimp DON'T DO BEDTIME! by Cate Berry

"THIS BOOK WILL NEVER MAKE YOU YAWN."

Penguin and his sidekick Tiny Shrimp may be dressed to doze, but don't be fooled by their clothes. Sure, Penguin is rockin' his stripey PJs and Tiny Shrimp's got his nightcap at a jaunty angle, but that doesn't mean that nighty-night snoozin' is part of their plan.

Forget it with the bubbly tub and the yellow rubber ducky. Kick the cushy bed and poofy pillow. Penguin and Tiny Shrimp are pullin' an all-nighter!

"YOU WON'T CATCH US WITH SLEEPY SHEEP OR WISHING STARS.

SAYONARA, SHEEP!"

No way these two are gonna hit the hay. The two bedtime resistors decide to try the scene on the Serengeti savanna for a run with the lions, and go for a rumble in the jungle. swinging with the monkeys on their vines. They board a boat and float into the deep sea to sail with the sharks.

Penguin can't resist doing a little stand-up to see if his anti-sleep co-conspirator is still on his toes:

"TINY SHRIMP! WHAT DO YOU CALL A FISH WITH TWO KNEES?"

"A TUNEE FISH!"

By this time they've acquired quite a retinue--a water buffalo, a lion, a uni-hippo, and an octopus--but by now, even the fireworks aren't keeping their eyelids from drooping, and the uni-hippo is yawning. And since he's the last one standing, he gets the last line.

THIS BOOK WILL SEE YOU IN THE MORNING!!

Cate Berry's brand-new Penguin & Tiny Shrimp Don't Do Bedtime! (Balzer and Bray, 2018) introduces an intriguing odd couple of anti-bedtime buddies, determined to party all night. Ever since Robert Louis Stevenson's little bedtime rebel lamented "Bed in Summer," kids have sought ways to avoid turning off the light and saying "nighty-night." Penguin and Tiny Shrimp are just the latest resistors who daydream about avoiding dreamland for real.

And a rowdy and comic romp it is. With the story told in speech balloons, noted artist Charles Santoso takes up the challenge to keep this story moving all the way to the final page--in which nature has its way with Berry's lovable little bedtime dissenters and all comes to rest. "A buoyantly subversive antibedtime tale," says Publishers Weekly.

Time for Beddy-Bye! Goodnight, Curious George

THE SUN IS SETTING, SLEEPY HEAD.

Even naughty little monkeys need to go to bed.

But Curious George doesn't hurry to that good night. First he carefully puts his toys away, even his beloved red ball. The Man with the Yellow Hat makes him a warm bubbly bath to get him clean from toes to nose. Then--it's time for PJs!

There's a bite to eat for bedtime, and then teeth to brush, and then a big hop into bed with just enough time for a story book or two before a last lullaby song lulls George, snuggling his Teddy, to sleep.

With added illustrations by Greg Paprocki, Good Night, Curious George padded board book (touch-and-feel) (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018) is a soothing way to say goodnight, with plenty of touch-and-feel and lift-the-flaps fun for youngsters along the way. With the iconic illustrations of Margret and H. A. Rey, Curious George leads the way to sweet dreams.

Little Insomniac: Good Night, Little Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister

THE LITTLE RAINBOW FISH COULDN'T SLEEP.

HIS EYES SIMPLY WOULD NOT CLOSE.

Mother Rainbow Fish has put him in a comfy bed of soft plants, but Little Rainbow Fish doesn't like the dark. He's afraid to close his eyes.

Mom has a bright idea.

I'LL SEND FOR THE LANTERN FISH!

The kindly lanternfish arrives to shine his little light in the dark sea floor. But Little Rainbow Fish  still has some disturbing issues with going to sleep.

He asks Mother Rainbow Fish to stay with him, and she promises she will stay close. But Little Rainbow Fish can't help worrying. What if the tide goes out and takes him with it? What if Octopus releases a cloud of ink, and he can't find his way back to his little bed? What if a jellyfish takes that opportunity to tie him up in his trailing tentacles?

YIKES! Now that IS scary!

And then, what if he dozes off ... to sleep, perchance to dream? Even little fish can have bad dreams!

But Mother Rainbow Fish just ties Jellyfish's tentacles in an attractive bow and wraps her fins around Little Rainbow Fish. Save and secure, he finally drifts off to sleep, in Marcus Pfister's sweet lullaby of a board book edition of Good Night, Little Rainbow Fish (NorthSouth Books, 2017 ed.).

Author Marcus Pfister takes youngsters back to the time when the notoriously adventurous Rainbow Fish was a just a small insomniac minnow, fretting about the disturbing nighttime things that all youngsters worry about and needing reassurance that all is well before slipping gently into that good night. In this deep sea bedtime story, artist Phister's lovely signature illustrations are soft and soothing, done up with glowing greens and blues, accented with pinks and sparkles of gold.This little book is fine bedtime fare that also introduces a beloved picture book character to the very young.

Getting to ZZZZZ! Sheep 101 by Robert Morris

TO SLEEP, PERCHANCE TO DREAM?

Not this kid. He's counting sheep, with not a single yawn yet. Woolly Bully #100 has just sailed over the hurdle, when...

CRASH!

Sheep 101 fails to clear the rails. #102 barely makes it over sheep and railings. Sheesh! Night shifts stink!

"We've got a sheep down!" shouts the dispatcher.

While Sheep 101 is carted off by the Sheep EMR team, a substitute reports for duty.

"WAIT! Who are you?"

"I'm Sheep 103."

"But... you're a COW!"

"Yeah, they ran out of sheep, so they called me. I usually jump over the moon, so this fence should be a breeze!

The rest of the sheep must have signed on with Little Bo Peep for the day shift, because a motley crew of fleeceless critters appear one at a time to take a crack at the fence--PIG, singing WEE WEE WEE, a BLIND MOUSE who can't even find the fence, and who's this? HUMPTY DUMPTY?? Gimme a, er, break!

There's no rest for the sleepless in Robert Morris's sleepytime tale, Sheep 101 (Little, Brown and Company, 2018), with witty dialog by author Morris and comic illustrations by Leuyen Pham that fairly pelt the reader with the sight gags until sweet dreams set in. A wild and woolly fractured folk tale of a story, this one will send kids to sleep with a smile on their faces. As Publishers Weekly puts it, "It's practically guaranteed that readers will go giggling into that good night!"