THE YAWN HEARD 'ROUND THE WORLD

What does a yawn spawn? More yawns, of course, as this whimsical story by two newcomers demonstrates. As young Sara fights bedtime ("I'm not through having fun today./ Let me stay up. I want to play!"), a gigantic yawn overtakes her. Her infectious yawn quickly spreads to the rest of her family—animals included—then over phone lines and across oceans before the far-flung yawn returns to find Sara (with the lift of a flap) asleep. Thomas's verse grows a bit awkward as the lines go in search of a rhyme ("Russia! China! The blue Pacific/ where the cruise ship Miss Terrific/ was plowing through a gusty gale/ That yawn surprised a big blue whale") but Mai-Wyss's spry illustrations remain consistently energized. Snatches of collage contribute added visual interest: a photo of an actual triangular quilt edge trims Sara's bedspread; small snapshots of real homes sit alongside paintings of others. In an inspired touch, the artist uses a confetti-like motif of tiny x's, o's and miniscule dots in bright colors to convey the contagious yawn as it jumps from Cuba to Paris (where a lady dining on noodles with three fancy pink poodles "plopped into a soggy snooze") before spreading to Chad, Peru and beyond. Especially clever is the scene of a panda and brown bear, who represent China and Russia, respectively, drowsily stretching as the yawn hits them via space satellite. A round-the-globe jaunt that is far from ho-hum. Ages 3-7. (Apr.)