No Go Sleep!

“No go sleep!” insists a baby, and clearly his parents aren’t going to change his mind. But the rest of the world is more than ready to call it a day, and celestial bodies, nearby animals, a car driving down the street, and even the front door give it the old college try. “When you wake up, I’ll be back to play,” promises the sun. “Who? Yes me,” pledges the owl. “I’ll stay awake and watch over you.” “No!” says the stubborn baby, seemingly immune to this cosmic persuasion, though his eyes say otherwise. Kate Feiffer, who last collaborated with her father on My Side of the Car, has written the perfect go-to book for the go-to-sleep impaired. With its lulling tone and gentle, comic cajoling, it has nightly must-read written all over it. Jules Feiffer’s legendary ink lines beautifully capture a nascent human in all his lumpy discontent. Especially revelatory is how he conjures up the beauty of a starry, marine-blue night and all the creatures and things that go into making the world reassuringly benevolent. Ages 3–7. (Mar.)