NIGHT-NIGHT, PRINCESS

It’s long past time for bed, but a certain little princess is not one bit sleepy.

The text describes, in pedestrian and sometimes-awkward rhyming verse, two sisters’ valiant efforts to ease their wide-awake sibling toward slumber, including hugs and kisses, fairy-dust wishes, playtime and dress-up, dancing, a snack of milk and honey buns, a warm bath and wrapping her up in her soft blanket. Nothing seems to slow the princess down until the sisters put her in a comfy chair with a big stack of books, and the princess responds with a little yawn. Finally, they all drift off to sleep. The uninspiring illustrations, which feature lots of pinks and purples and silver glitter for the fairy dust, are partly rescued by a couple of interactive elements. The front cover depicts the three sisters in bed with the youngest sister holding a baby doll; it features a tab that, when pulled, moves the baby back and forth as though the girl is rocking it. The final page includes a large flap in the shape of pillows and blankets that when pulled back reveals the little princess sound asleep. The topic of getting reluctant little ones to bed is a perennial favorite, but the execution here is lackluster at best.

Not worth losing sleep over.