YAWN

From one tired tot through an impressive array of animals, a mighty yawn passes along.

With his head tipped back and eyes closed, Sean lets it all out. A dramatic, face-dominating, circular cut-out carries the yawn from the little boy to a scraggly feline. The fight against rest continues as bird, fish, mole and more struggle to stay awake. Finally, level-headed Nellie, of the sensible elephant variety, gathers up the gang for some much needed shut-eye. There's nothing quiet about this path to relaxation. Crisp rhyming pairings in an upbeat rhythm maintain a brisk pace; Symes keeps things from going too fast with artful placement of her consonants. The end of each phrase sets up each natural page turn. “Mole gave a yawn / then rested from her dig. / Guess who she gave it to. / A snorty, snouty… // … pig.” Exaggerated expressions capture each pronounced sleepy sigh.

With such an enthusiastic call to participate, Wynken, Blynken and Nod stand no chance here. (Board book. 1-4)