I Dare You Not to Yawn

The way this book's narrator sees it, a yawn is a dangerous thing. One yawn, and "next thing you know, you're being sent upstairs to get your pajamas on!" What follows are his suggestions for resisting the yawn's siren song. "LOOK AWAY!" if someone else is yawning. Decline offers of stuffed animals or "your favorite blankie"; close your ears to bedtime stories and lullabies about stars or sheep ("especially the counting kind"). Don't think about sleepy baby animals, "their little mouths forming perfect o's..." Of course, the more you think about not yawning, the harder it is to do anything but yawn -- and therein lies this book's genius. Boudreau's pacing is impeccable; Bloch's stylish digitally colored ink illustrations amplify the text's humor while helping to telegraph its thinly disguised subliminal message. Our young narrator's fate is a foregone conclusion, and despite his best efforts he ends up cozily tucked into bed. Stop haranguing noncompliant children at bedtime; I Dare You Not to Yawn will put them right where you want them...though be prepared to fall under its spell, too. Resistance is futile. kitty flynn