"Naptime—/ no!/ Sleepytime—/ not my
sister." Everybody knows a Go-Go Baby, the one who scorns sleep, who craves motion and noise. In Salerno's (Little Tumbo
) stylish retro spreads, Go-Go Baby and her curlicue hair and diaper are rendered with a couple of bold black crayon lines, while the rest of the world roars left and right across the pages, a series of department-store ad figures from the '50s—men with fedoras, buses with square windows. Big blocks of primary color, bold type and calligraphic strokes give pages motion and verve. Sneaking from her crib with blanket and pacifier, Go-Go Baby pushes the stroller over to her mother and big sister; she wants to go out! Down the street into the middle of a traffic jam, onto the bus, the train, the ferry, Go-Go Baby won't sleep until she's seen everything in the city that moves ("Va-rooom
goes the motor. Love that roar"). Orgill's (If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong
) deft text quickly sketches the scenes—"Dock squeaks,/ water slaps,/ snapping windy flag"—as Go-Go Baby drives her mother and older sister on. Sometimes she even rolls ahead—"Uh-oh!/ Ramp!/ Whoa, Baby!/ Gotcha!/ Kiss kiss." Even children with no little brothers or sisters will giggle as sleep overtakes the heavy-lidded Go-Go Baby at last, swirling around her in hypnotic circles—"sleepy baby... going... going... Gone!" A winner. Ages 3-7. (Mar.)
