THE LITTLE GIRL WHO DIDN'T WANT TO GO TO BED

Engledow, known online as the “World’s Best Father,” presents a bedtime book illustrated with his signature, humorous, digitally manipulated, composite photographs.

The particular white, blonde little girl will be familiar as Engledow’s daughter to those who’ve followed him online. She resists going to bed because she’s certain her parents stay up having fun after she’s asleep. That resistance is exemplified with various scenarios certain to be familiar to readers—she’s hungry, she wants another story, etc.—but the understated text works with illustrations that amplify its humor. When she’s hungry, for example, she’s depicted eating a massive turkey drumstick while clutching a head of broccoli and sitting in bed before a huge slice of watermelon. Then she catches her parents “doing boring grown-up stuff” after her bedtime, and her father tells her to count herself to sleep. This backfires, as she stays up until dawn not only counting, but creating a range of absurd and wonderful things in her room. Her lost sleep makes her miss the next day’s fun at a party, and when she decides to get a good night’s sleep to avoid missing out on the next day, the story’s resolution is saved from heavy-handedness by a clever twist on the final page.

While it may not make kids excited for bedtime, this book is one they’ll want to read.