This Is MY Room!

March 1, 2019
Protagonist JoJo is old enough to have her own bedroom and doesn't have to sleep with her big sister, Margaret, or anyone else...maybe.As JoJo happily carries blankets to her new room, Margaret predicts that she'll be back. JoJo pooh-poohs the notion. But after JoJo turns off her light and hunkers down, a lion steps out from behind the drapes. JoJo quickly hustles to Margaret's room to tell her. Margaret suggests she make a "No Lions Allowed" sign. JoJo does and tapes it over her bed. After the lion reads the sign, it leaves; however, more animals appear. JoJo adds each animal's name to the sign, which works until the curious tiger is confused by the sign. JoJo could return to her sister's animal-free room, but instead she thinks of a way to solve the problem herself. Jacobson tackles the perennial desire of children to resist bedtime with a unique twist, her understated, patterned text totally in tune with her readers. Neonakis' engaging use of color and composition make this a real page-turner. The interplay between text and illustrations may initially have some older readers skeptical that any animals are actually bedeviling JoJo, but the truth becomes clear in a dramatic, tension-filled sequence. The enormous bulks of JoJo's nighttime animals, who seem as tentative as JoJo despite their fearsome looks, make for highly amusing compositions. JoJo and Margaret present white.A winner, day or night. (Picture book. 4-8)

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May 13, 2019
JoJo decides to sleep in her own bedroom instead of with her older sister, Margaret (“You’ll be back,” Margaret tells her). But after she confidently settles in, “a lion slipped out from behind the window curtain,” thumping its tail. The way to keep lions away, Margaret indicates, is to make a “No Lions Allowed!” sign. The lion doesn’t return (it must have read the sign, JoJo figures), but a bear with meatball breath appears next. She adds bears to the list of restricted animals and, looking dejected, the bear leaves. Readers will recognize a pattern by the time a tiger arrives. Charming digital illustrations by Neonakis first render the animal visitors as imposing—the tiger stalks out of the closet with an expression of possible hunger—then as benevolent when the light turns on. An endearing twist suggests that making friends with things that go bump (or growl) in the night can help everyone rest easier. Ages 4–8.