Chengdu Could Not, Would Not Fall Asleep

All the pandas are sleeping peacefully except for little Chengdu. Saltzberg gives the book an old-fashioned look by limiting the colors to black, white, gray, and the green of the bamboo trees, catching the soft textures of a dark forest at night. Gentle sight gags add humor without breaking the calming mood, making this an ideal nighttime book for the very young.

All the pandas are sleeping peacefully, stretched out on bamboo branches, except for little Chengdu. His big round eyes look startlingly open against the black fur surrounding them, and he has the despairing look of an insomniac late at night. He "scrunched / and he rolled / and he hung upside down, / but he still could not, / would not fall asleep." Saltzberg gives the book an old-fashioned look by limiting the colors to black, white, gray, and the green of the bamboo trees, catching the soft textures of a dark forest at night. He uses the pages themselves inventively, opening one downward, another horizontally. In a sequence of partial pages he shows Panda climbing up, and up, and up until he climbs right on top of his sleeping brother, where he is finally able to sleep. The gentle sight gags add humor without breaking the calming mood, making this an ideal nighttime book for the very young. susan dove lempke