Goodnight Already!

PreS-Gr 1—In this familiar-sounding story, an exhausted animal tries to sleep as his overly friendly neighbor pays him repeated visits. Late one night, Duck is bored and decides Bear will entertain him, but grumpy Bear rejects his suggestions to watch movies and make smoothies, sending the bird home with a "Goodnight already." Duck turns up twice more to interrupt his neighbor's sleep and is dismissed by an increasingly irate Bear, who, in the end, is left wide awake, while Duck falls fast asleep next door. The premise of this story is not very original, and even the ending won't be a surprise. Bear comes across as a grouchy curmudgeon, while Duck is oblivious and annoying, and their dialogue is stilted. The illustrations, however, are charming, with solid color backgrounds highlighting moods, yellow for Duck and blue-gray for Bear, as well as the characters themselves, who stand out against the saturated backdrops. Little details add color to each page, from Bear's pink stuffed animal to Duck's red electric guitar. For libraries that have Bonny Becker's A Visitor for Bear (2012) and A Bedtime for Bear (2010, both Candlewick), this may not be a first purchase, but the fresh, funny art makes it a worthy consideration.—Marian McLeod, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Greenwich, CT