On My Way to Bed

PreS-Gr 1—The queen of stalling tactics in On My Way to the Bath (Walker, 2012) returns to delay another daily ritual with imagination and pizzazz. When Livi's mother calls for bedtime, the little girl is hula-hooping on the arm of a chair with way too much energy to call it a day. The action continues in the same vein as Livi's last outing, as she imagines herself walking tightropes, rocketing through space, and, ultimately, as a purple octopus, attacking her mother on the way to bed. Even when under the covers, Livi stalls again, begging for three long stories and picturing herself parched in the desert, desperately in need of a drink of water. Once the youngster has squirmed and snuggled her way to sleep, however, she is as snug as a bear in a cave and not ready to heed her mother's morning wake-up call. The digitally produced cartoon illustrations are vivid and full of detail. From Livi's spiky pigtails and her smiling stuffed friend Froggolini, to an imaginary goat, Marge, children will enjoy the humor in the pictures as much as the text. Adults will smile at this fun exaggeration of the familiar nighttime battle. Great for one-on-one or group sharing, this book is a solid purchase.—Martha Link Yesowitch, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, NC