TITLE: Night Animals Need Sleep Too
BY: Gianna Marino (Viking Books for Young Readers, Feb. 25), ages 3-5, 40 pages, $17.99, $10.99 ebook.
STORY: It's daytime, and Possum can't sleep because it's too bright. His buddy Skunk helpfully guides him to a likely looking hollow tree, but it's already occupied by a bear and some bees. The bear's friendly; the bees are not. The swarming bees startle Possum so badly he falls into his catatonic fake sleep. Bear worries that he has killed Possum, but the comatose varmint is alive. Together Bear and Skunk tote him to safety.
They all go on looking for a place to sleep, trying hidey holes with results that are even a bit worse because Skunk sprays when he freaks out. Along the way, they pick up Beaver and Wolf, who join Bear, Skunk and Possum after fearing they have killed Possum. In the final experiment, the menagerie crawls into a sleeping bag in a tent. When the humans return, everybody runs away in terror — except Possum, who passed out in the tent.
As day draws to a close, the little band of exhausted day sleepers staggers on, because now it's time for them to be awake.
This book is a cute follow-up to Marino's 2015 humdinger Night Animals, which was notable for dramatic illustrations.
Read to Me is a weekly review of short books.
Style on 03/09/2020