DO NOT DISTURB! Duck's Vacation by Gilad Soffer

"HOW RELAXING.

JUST ME AND THE SEA.

THE PERFECT VACATION."

Duck's got it done in the sun in the South Seas (Bora Bora, if you can read the passport stamp on the cover). He's got the comfy canvas folding chair. He's got the tall tropical drink with the little fruited umbrella. He's got an ice cream cone in his hand. He's got sun glasses and a big red and yellow beach--

"WHOA! "WHO TURNED THE PAGE?"

Somebody must've. His sun glasses and ice cream cone are in the sand and...

"OH. IT'S YOU."

Duck's beady eyes are on the reader, that reckless page turner who--

With the riffle of a page the fantasy fourth wall that keeps the reader out of the book comes down. Duck tries to regain control of his vacation.

"DO. NOT. TURN. ANY. MORE. PAGES."

But the cat is out of the metafictional bag by now. In short order, the crab on the beach attacks Duck's foot, a seagull makes an, er, deposit on his head, two paddle ball players use Duck for a net, and a mob of blubbery beachgoers descend to his piece of sand to have a gab session all around poor Duck.

FINE! TURN THE PAGE.

IT CAN'T POSSIBLY GET WORSE.

But Duck misses the warning signs. Dark clouds are gathering and even an octopus in the shallows opens his umbrella. A freakish snow covers the sand and penguins waddle out of the water. But one more page turn brings back the sunny scene of sandy beach and blue seas with a tall sailing ship offshore. Duck relaxes.

"I COULD STAY ON THIS PAGE FOREVER."

Or not. A longboat full of pirates rows to shore from the ship, promptly plop Duck into a stew pot, and prepare to dine on duck soup. Duck regrets his previous statement.

"THIS WOULD BE THE PERFECT TIME TO TURN THE PAGE." HE WHISPERS.

Gilad Soffer's jolly Duck's Vacation (Feiwel and Friends, 2015) adds one more infectiously witty metabook to the growing number of authors who think outside the book. Not since Mo Willems' We Are in a Book! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) and Herve Tullet's Press Here have readers been invited into the metafictional merriment with more elan, almost hearing Donald Duck's voice sputtering out Duck's orders. Soffer's comic illustrations are spot on, and kids will love the surprise ending in which the privateers, all ready to rock and roll in the perfect place for piracy, are foiled by those most deadly of words on the next page:

THE END.

Peep, Peep, Peep... Please Sleep! Click, Clack, Peep! by Doreen Cronin

Down on the Brown farm, there is spring anticipation in the air. The duck egg Farmer Brown ordered has come and it's about to hatch. The farm animals all wait with baited breath!

NOT A MOO!

NOT A CLUCK!

NOT AN OINK!

THEN... A CRACK!

First a crack, then a tiny wing, then a webbed foot, and finally, with a CRAA-AACK!, there's Baby Duck, with a helmet of shell still on her head!

Baby Duck is proud to be there, and she greets all the waiting animals.

"PEEP, PEEP, PEEP!"

This duckling has a healthy set of lungs and endless enthusiasm for communication. After a few hundred peeps, the farm animals are yawning and ready to settle down for the night. Farmer Brown is ready to turn in and call it a day, too. But this spring peeper is only just getting started.

"PEEP, PEEP, PEEP!
PEEP, PEEP, PEEP!
PEEP, PEEP, PEEP"

It looks like this newborn is prepared to make it an all-nighter. The bleary-eyed hens cluck a lullaby, the sheep quickly knits up a soft baby blanket, and the cows shut the barn door and lower their shades, Even the mice head for the hills, yawning all the way.

But as usual, it's Duck to the rescue, He cranks up Farmer's noisy but trusty tractor and drives back and forth around the field, with Baby Duck in his blankie on board.

Back and forth, to a PEEP, PEEP, PEEP! Around again. PEEP! PEEP! Even the tractor looks tired, as once more, Duck retraces his route, and Farmer Brown cringes in his bed, pillow over his head.

"PEEP.... SLEEP!

At last, there's not a peep and all get their sleep, in Doreen Cronin's latest in her fine and funny farm critter series, Click, Clack, Peep! (Atheneum Books, 2015). Kids will love to put their PEEPS into the story when this one is read aloud, while artist Betsy Lewin's bucolic illustrations extend the text with adorable rustic silliness that can't be beat. Another big hit in this popular series (which began with the best-selling Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type from this dynamic author/illustrator duo.

Other not-to-be-missed full-size picture books in this countryside series include Giggle, Giggle, Quack, Dooby Dooby Moo Thump, Quack, Moo: A Whacky Adventure, and Click, Clack, Boo!: A Tricky Treat.

Go To Sleep, Okay? Goodnight Already!" by Jory John

"I'VE NEVER BEEN SO AWAKE!"

Duck has just polished off a mug of strong coffee while reading his book, 101 Ways to Stay Awake, and he's wired.

"I WONDER WHAT BEAR IS DOING?"

Well, Bear has just announced that he's never been so tired and could sleep for weeks. A big grouchy bear ready for hibernation is not exactly ready to party all night!

Duck is insistent.

"WANT TO HANG OUT? WANT TO PLAY CARDS? WATCH MOVIES? DRINK SMOOTHIES?"

"NO!" SAYS BEAR.

Fine! Feeling dissed, Duck stomps out. Bear yawns and with his pink Teddy crawls into his tempting bed, just as Duck goes Pssst! at his window, offering to bake cookies. Bear repeats his message, but Duck is soon back, asking to borrow all the ingredients for the cookies. Bear sends him away, but Duck is soon back, whinging about stubbing his beak.

Bear gets downright scary.

"GOODNIGHT ALREADY!"

Sheesh! What a grumpus! mutters Duck, but he finally calls it a night.

But now Bear has another problem.

"I'VE NEVER BEEN SO AWAKE!"

Jory John's brand-new Goodnight Already! (Harper, 2015) is unashamedly a picture-book takeoff on the plots of vintage cartoons--Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, and the rest of those iconic "wascally wabbit" types. Duck is determined to keep Bear awake, with comic results, in this delightfully designed cinematographic story book. John's Bear is the perfect curmudgeonly type, and Duck the devilishly obdurate pest who keeps appearing at the door. Young readers who are fans of Jackie Urbanic's hilarious Duck at the Door and its several sequels (see reviews here) and Bonnie Becker's beloved A Visitor for Bear (Bear and Mouse), A Bedtime for Bear (Bear and Mouse), and sequels (see reviews here) will find this one a fine piece of bedtime-denier fare.