Review by Booklist Review
Award-winning Smiley's first picture book begins at the sunny beach, where an energetic family happily spends the day. Because they stayed so long and had such fun, everyone is yawning. After a gorgeous pink-and-purple sunset, Mom reads Lucy a bedtime story, but she falls asleep right in the middle. The moon shines mysteriously, illuminating the room with a silver veil, and suddenly Lucy is wide awake (The house was verrrrry quiet). Lucy tiptoes into the living room to grab her bear and some other lonely toys. Cuddled in bed once more, Lucy and all her animals yawn in concert, and even the pictures on the walls join in! Finally the moon itself yawns companionably, and all fall asleep. Caldecott Honor Book illustrator Castillo uses bold outlined figures and soft backgrounds exceptionally well to paint an appealing curly-haired child, her yawning family and sleepy toys, and even a humorous open-mouthed moon. Her charming final picture is a tender snuggle. Children will enjoy turning pages to count all 20 yawns.--Gepson, Lolly Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In her first outing as picture book author, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Smiley (A Thousand Acres) explores the spookiness of being awake when everyone else has fallen asleep. After a long day at the beach, Lucy and her parents are out of steam. Mom dozes off during Lucy's bedtime read-aloud, and Lucy finds her father slumbering in his armchair when she tiptoes into the living room to retrieve her bear, Molasses. Lucy's sense of solitude is sharpened as she sees her drawings hanging on her bedroom wall: "Everyone in the pictures seemed to be watching her-Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Elizabeth, Mom, and Dad." But this haunted moment passes, and by the time Lucy has put her beloved stuffed animals to bed, she's calm and ready for sleep. Castillo's (Yard Sale) spreads call up just the right sense of moonlit otherworldliness. Her signature soft black outlines unite the beach prelude with the main nighttime story, and she quietly embraces diversity by making Lucy's family biracial. As a bonus, readers can search for the title's 20 yawns. Ages 3-7. Author's agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Agency. Illustrator's agent: Paul Rodeen, Rodeen Literary Management. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Lucy and her parents spend a delightful but exhausting day at the beach. Lucy digs a hole, rolls down a dune, chases a gull, and builds a sand castle. At bedtime, Mom falls asleep even before she finishes reading Lucy a story. Bright moonlight wakens the child, who searches for her toy bear and eventually carries all her stuffed animals to bed. The animals, the people in Lucy's drawings, and the moon yawn before settling down to sleep. Castillo's illustrations capture the warmth and vitality of sun-drenched beach activities as well as the shadowy calm of moonlit rooms. They add immeasurably to the story's tone and spot-on child-focused sensibilities. Hand-lettered onomatopoeia sounds like "swoosh" and "flap" add flair to the well-designed pages. VERDICT A sweet soporific and an attractive option for most collections wanting to refresh bedtime selections.-Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University Library, Mankato © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Lucy and her parents stay late at the beach, playing in the waves, walking the length of the shore, rolling down dunes, building a sandcastle. Everyone is happily worn out, and Mom decrees an early bedtime. So far, so predictable -- but then: Mom falls asleep in the middle of reading Lucy a story. Suddenly, Lucy was wide awake. With the silvery moonlight making everyday objects look mysterious (even the family pictures taped up on her bedroom wall seem to be looking at her), Lucy needs her bear, Molasses. The process of fetching him and her other stuffed animals and tucking them into bed comforts and settles Lucy, and she soon falls asleep. Theres so much right about this picture book, Pulitzer Prizewinning (for A Thousand Acres) Smileys first. Together, her text and Castillos digital illustrations first establish a warm family dynamic (an interracial family, by the way) and then, in that context, show a small child able to cope with an unfamiliar situation on her own. Smiley evinces a deep understanding of a childs sensibilities, from Lucy thinking that her stuffed animals look lonely to her imagination animating the pictures on her wall. Castillos color-saturated illustrations capture every bit of the joy of the familys busy beach day; the shivery strangeness of being the only one awake in the house; and the love and warmth that permeate all the interactions here. And the twenty yawns (yes, you can count them) are pure genius: whether from expected or unexpected sources, they are incorporated perfectly into the story. martha v. parravano (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
After a day at the beach, Mom, Dad, and Lucy are tired. But when the moon shines through her window, and everything looks mysterious, Lucy is suddenly wide awake. How will she go to sleep? This warm, sweetly ordinary story is Pulitzer Prize-winner Smiley's picture-book debut. The simple text describes a sunny day at the beach, with Lucy digging a hole, running into the water, walking from one end of the beach to the other, rolling down warm dunes, and eventually heading home, with Mom declaring, "Early bedtime!" As Mom reads a bedtime story, she falls asleep, and Lucy begins to nod off. But when moonlight bathes her bed, a wide-awake Lucy slips out of bed and pads out of her room in search of Molasses, her bear. Dad is snoring in his chair, and the house is very quiet. After finding Molassesand all her menagerie of animal toysLucy settles them in her bed, snuggles in next to them, sighs a happy sigh, and falls asleep. Caldecott Honoree Castillo beautifully captures the warmth of the story in textured watercolors and bold, saturated colors. Of special note is the refreshingly straightforward portrayal of the family as biracial (Mom has dark skin and springy hair, while Dad is white). And the titular "twenty yawns?" Readers can find and count them sprinkled throughout the text. Perfect bedtime story for the end of a busy day. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
