Stop That Yawn!

Gabby Wild has a missing tooth, brown skin, and beaded “click-clacky hair,” and she has had it with sleep. She convinces her grandmother to take her to Never Sleeping City, where neon lights blink, the streets hop with revelers, and everyone stays up all night long. But somehow, on the Ferris wheel, Granny yawns—and yawns, of course, are contagious. “Grit your teeth, seal your lips!” Gabby cries, as the misty blue yawn flies into the night and people start dropping off in its wake. Dashing through the town after it, Gabby makes a ruckus, hijacks an opera performance, and collars the mayor, but it’s no use. Before long, the unthinkable has happened, and Gabby is exhaling zzz’s. Text by Levis (Ida, Always) crackles, and show-stopping artwork by Pham (Grace for President) is great fun. In affectionate homage to In the Night Kitchen (and maybe to Little Nemo before it), Gabby pilots her own plane into panels of dreamlike urban landscapes filled with carnival characters and vaudevillian antics; other picture book Easter eggs await. Ages 4–8. [em](Oct.) [/em]