Good Night Thoughts

K-Gr 2--On a sparkly night, a child snuggles a stuffy and worries over falling asleep. While the moon-bathed surroundings emanate peaceful slumber, inside the child's mind is a totally different landscape. A world full of scariness and noise bubbles out in bright greens, pinks, and yellows that take the form of robot sharks and the dentist! Greenfield humorously softens bedtime fears: a cluster of tarantulas end up overflowing from a toilet bowl while a worry about a best friend leaving envisions them sailing away on a pirate ship made of French toast. Lucid writing paired with Serafino's affecting illustrations succinctly present how a mind full of both scary and comforting thoughts can make it difficult to surrender to the rest we need. The story arc triumphantly takes readers from trying to imagine good night thoughts to being able to say "Good night" to our thoughts. VERDICT A book that is reassuring while speaking to and visually manifesting how difficult it can be to fall asleep when our minds are overwhelmed; this is a perfectly relatable book for young readers and adults alike.--Sarah Pousty

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Wide-eyed and worried, Greenfield's relatable child protagonist grapples with insomnia-generated fears in this bedtime book, which balances a serious challenge with silly examples. "My brain is too noisy. My thoughts are too jumpy," says a child beneath a blanket, who experiences unsettling visions of giant robot sharks, a toilet bowl overflowing with tarantulas, and the world exploding like a popcorn kernel. To counter the onslaught, the subject tries imagining a baby panda or "a choir of candy-covered donuts all singing my favorite songs," until accepting that thoughts are "just in my head" finally does the trick. In Serafino's art, varied blues capture the tired figure's mood, while distorted imagery threatens from thought bubbles cast in slime green, bubble gum pink, and burnished gold. The child's rallying effort eventually blows away the concerns, offering readers a fitting visualization of the book's grounding advice that's handy for wakefulness at any age. Ages 3-7. (Sept.)

Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Relatable guidance for nocturnal worriers.