Day: April 29, 2020

The Yawns Are Coming! by Christopher Eliopoulos

| Tasha

The Yawns Are Coming! by Christopher Eliopoulos

The Yawns Are Coming! by Christopher Eliopoulos (9781984816306)

A sleepover is great fun as long as you can avoid the yawns! This is the story of two children and their sleepover where they planned to stay up all night long. They even had a long list of things to do like playing hide-and-seek, board games, soccer, and trampolining. The yawns started to appear while they were playing cards together. Soon there were hundreds of them. The kids ran, climbed and hid from them, but it was no use. Soon they were yawning and then suddenly a Doze landed on their heads, Snores came, and finally a Sleepie covered them up! Next thing, it was morning, but there was still fun to be had.

Eliopoulos’ picture book has a great look and feel that is made all the more fun by the humor of the story. Using cute monsters as the yawns, snores, dozes and sleepies was a great idea, especially when they appear in droves or drop from the sky. The book captures the great plans made before every sleepover and how they never quite manage to be achieved.

In the illustrations, it’s great to see a picture book that features diverse characters who are close friends. I also appreciate that the narrator and their friend “Noodles” are not given genders in the book and could be whatever the reader chooses. The use of hooded pajamas and then daytime hats to keep them clearly identified but also gender neutral is a great touch.

A funny and marvelous bedtime (or staying up late) book. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Dial.

The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead

| Tasha

The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead

The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead (9781101938096)

When Bea’s parents got divorced, they gave her a list of things that they promised would never change. Since then, that list has grown to include new things that Bea has added to it herself. A big change is that her father is getting remarried to Jesse, the guy he’s been dating for awhile. Bea loves Jesse and is ecstatic when she finds out the Jesse has a daughter just Bea’s age. Bea is convinced that they will be the best sisters ever. Meanwhile, Bea is navigating living in two houses, going to see her therapist for anxiety, and finding a theme for her dad’s wedding. It all becomes a lot to handle when Sonia, Jesse’s daughter, isn’t quite as eager as Bea to become sisters. Still, Bea knows how it feels to need to be forgiven and offered more than one chance to become part of someone’s life.

Stead’s writing is deft and clever. She writes with so much empathy for children and a deep understanding for the puzzling situations they face in their lives. Stead creates incredible moments in the novel that offer wonder and refrain through the book like a catchy bar of music. I must mention that it is great to see the marriage of a gay couple handled with such joy, such acceptance while also addressing the bigotry society still has.

Bea a great character, complicated and yet easily understandable. She is enthusiastic but also at times quiet, defying labels as we get to know her better. That alone is a remarkable achievement as an author, just allowing this girl to be herself on the page. The secondary characters are all robustly depicted with no one become stereotypical and everyone showing heart.

Two things that will not change about this book. One, it’s wonderful. Two, it is full of love. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy provided by Wendy Lamb Books.