Boris and the Worrisome Wakies

February 15, 2017
Trouble sleeping keeps little Boris from thriving at school.Boris, a nocturnal, anthropomorphic badger child, can't sleep during the day due to the titular "worrisome wakies" that make him toss and turn until sundown. When he goes to school in the evening, he falls asleep and misses out on everything. Munsinger's illustrations depict the fun that his classmates describe to him when he finally begins to worry about what he's been missing, including "The school play. You were a rock." Throughout the book, cartoon-style watercolor-and-ink illustrations build on the text's playful humor, but on this spread, the illustration of the school play depicts a sleeping Boris as Plymouth Rock lying before smiling badger children who are costumed like Pilgrims and carry a roasted turkey and a pumpkin, while another is clad as a stereotypical Indian in a feather headdress and holding corn. While humor may have been the intent, many will find the result anything but funny when they consider the picture's outdated whitewashing of colonialist history. Moving on, Boris resolves to get a good day's sleep so that he can participate fully at school, and he ends up being the "liveliest cub" there. This book needs to reject stereotypes in order to get woke. (Picture book. 4-6)

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August 1, 2017

PreS-Gr 1-Boris cannot get with the badger schedule. Instead of sleeping all day, Boris is awake and squirming all about. Then, when it is time to get up and go to school, Boris is too tired to do anything. As Boris sleeps through school, the reader gets to see all the fun things he is missing out on, like gym, art, music, and lunch. After Boris's sleeping at school routine is set, his classmates and teacher quit trying to include him in their fun activities. After hearing about all the fun activities he is missing-like field day, the school play, and the class picture-Boris decides to get it together and sleep all day so he can learn and have fun at school all night. After a full day's sleep, Boris is a new badger, ready to participate in school. What a difference a good day's sleep makes. The art is beautiful, and the text is skillfully arranged around the drawings to help readers follow the action. This is a well-illustrated story, but much of the treatment of Boris by his schoolmates could be described as mean and mocking. While this eventually causes a change in Boris's behavior, the book shows a lot of mistreatment of the main character. VERDICT Schools sensitive to bullying messages may be wary of this book due to the taunting and teasing that happens when Boris is too tired to participate.-Nicole Detter-Smith, Homestead High School, IN

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