cover image Shhh! This Book Is Sleeping

Shhh! This Book Is Sleeping

Cédric Ramadier, illus. by Vincent Bourgeau. Random, $8.99 (20p) ISBN 978-0-553-53875-5

Baby’s first metafiction! “Shhh! This book is getting sleepy,” explains a pink mouse in this charming board book from a French team. Bourgeau uses dashes of black and white to give the blue book a childlike face that fills the right-hand pages—and looks sleepier with every page turn. The mouse invites readers to assist in the book’s bedtime routine, from making sure it has used the bathroom to providing a story, blanket, “a big hug... and a little kiss.” It’s a smart way to make children feel like more than passive participants in the bedtime process, and the book’s adorably tiny yawns and sinking eyelids make it irresistible. Up to age 3. (Jan.)