Beep! Beep! Go To Sleep! by Todd Tarpley; illustrated by John Rocco (New York, Little, Brown) $19
Robots seem to be an incredibly popular subject for picture books lately.
The going to sleep theme, on the other hand, has been around for decades. Two titles that combine these themes are Beep! Beep! Go To Sleep and Power Down, Little Robot. The former is told in rollicking rhymes and describes an exhausted child's attempt to tamp down the exuberance of three misbehaving robot toddlers. The child, acting in loco parentis, no sooner gets the robots into their steel bunk bed than they holler "Beep! Beep!" and utter a stream of complaints. The problems range from a loose fan belt to overtight bolts, missing coils and even aching sensors.
The boy makes everything better only to be awakened by a final "Beep! Beep!" to let him know that little robots need a bedtime story. Finally, even though "Somewhere there are robots beeping, buzzing-bouncing, squawking-squeaking," these little robots finally succeed in putting their boy to sleep.
The robots scamper adorably through the oversized illustrations, which were created with pencil, watercolour and digital paint. Their antics, as well as the boy's long-suffering expressions, add humour to the text and embellish the storyline.
Jacket notes indicate that the illustrator is a Caldecott award honoree. Share this book with any child who goes to bed!
Power Down, Little Robot by Anna Staniszewski; illustrated by Tim Zeltner (New York, Holt) $19.50
Power Down, Little Robot is another gentle reprise on the difficulties of getting a small robot to close his stalling programme. Mom robot is up to the challenge of dealing with his tactics and soon has Little Robot in his sleep module whereupon he is forced to move to Part Two of his stalling programme. Mom reads him the requested manual, digs out his favourite toy, tells him it is time to recharge and finally closes the door.
When Little Robot sneaks downstairs, he is caught and tucked back into his soft and warm sleep module with a benevolent mom clamping his hand until very soon "dream sequence initiated!" Both the author and artist are award winners. The pastel illustrations have a 1950s flavour and were created using acrylic on plywood. Young readers will relate to Little Robot's clever delaying excuses and may be inspired to come up with some robot ones of their own!
Fran Ashdown worked at the Capilano branch of North Vancouver District Public Library. She remembers her daughters giving inspired reasons why they should be allowed to keep reading at bedtime. For more information check your local libraries.
