Go Back to Sleep

Poor young Finn is never going to get any sleep. His brown-skinned mother insists that she needs a drink of water, then spills it all over the sheets, necessitating a middle of the night cleanup. His father, pink-skinned and red-haired, appears at Finn’s bedside and informs his son that he’s had a nightmare, then accidentally stomps on Finn’s space station model and insists that his son carry him back to the parental bedroom. Finn, who is apparently biracial, knows he’s supposed to cherish every precious moment with his parents (Mommy “wouldn’t be forty forever”), but he wonders, “When will these two ever sleep through the night?” and, a few rounds later, imagines himself conking out facedown in his cereal bowl. Blake’s (No One Likes a Fart) tables-turned text is funniest when Finn tries to restore order with chirpy reassurances: “You’ve got a big day at work tomorrow,” he tells his mom, trying to shut down any further hijinks; “Oh, buddy, I’m sorry,” he says about Dad’s nightmare. And the crisp lines and flat colors of artist Jacobsen’s cartooning lend a reportorial quality to the action that makes Finn’s travails seem even more comically desperate. Ages 3–7. (Nov.)