Even Superheroes Have to Sleep

December 15, 2016
Everybody needs to sleep. Superheroes, doctors, construction workers...they all need sleep. So do princesses, pirates, and scientists. Every time they turn the page little readers will see an adult role model submitting to slumber's call. The final pages are dedicated to two children going to bed. The text is formed with quartets in an (occasionally stumbling) aabb rhyme scheme that details each character's day before bedtime: "Fixing owies big and small, / Broken bones from brother brawls, / Giving every patient their best, / Even doctors need to rest." The commercial-looking illustrations employ muted colors that will ease little readers to restful states when coupled with the rhyming pattern. The compositions are clean with minimal line and large swaths of color. The range of occupations is commendable, but the diversity less so. There's only one major nonwhite face here among the adults (a black police officer) and just three women (a doctor, a princess, and a mother). The doctor treats a brown-skinned child, but the two children that stand in for readers are both white. The trade edition includes a "sleep reward chart" and stickers for little ones who need encouragement; both features are absent from the library edition. A nonessential addition to the evening storytime stack. (Picture book. 3-5)

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