Lucy Can't Sleep

PreS-Gr 1–Charming watercolor-and-ink illustrations combine with a meandering, singsong text in this lovely bedtime book. Lucy can’t sleep, even after counting various animals, wiggling her fingers and toes, and scratching her itches. She gets out of bed, puts on a sweater, and amuses herself by looking for her misplaced toys, sliding down the banister, checking out the fridge, having a snack, sitting on the porch swing, hugging her dog, and playing dress up, until finally she is tired enough to “slip into bed, and sleep ‘til dawn.” Overlook the fact that most young children are not this comfortable or self-sufficient alone late at night; nor are parents likely to sleep through a child’s wanderings about the house, not to mention outside. Instead, focus on the warm, cozy flow of the text, which sometimes rhymes and sometimes doesn’t, is sometimes busy and other times quiet, and ultimately lures readers into a peaceful, restful place. The artwork is precious in the best sense, featuring a pink-faced child whose minimal features consist simply of black dots for eyes and nose, and a red line for a mouth. Cool pastel colors keep the nighttime dark but never scary, not counting when her black dog chases a black squirrel from behind a black tree in the yard. The picture of Lucy cozied up on the porch swing under a harvest moon with a radio playing close by is enough to make anyone want to go to bed. A wonderful book to cuddle up with when it’s almost time to sleep.