Citations

A baby's small yawn sets off a global chain of events. The infant's mother catches the yawn and passes it on to the family dog, who eventually passes it on to a smiling full moon. The moon sighs a yawn over the entire earth, passing it on to whales in the sea, koala bears, and parents and children around the world. The yawn eventually finds another baby, on the other side of the Earth, who is snuggling in for the evening with his mother beneath an awning in the desert. This picture book quietly celebrates diversity through a simple, shared experience. Children in contemporary cities, Latin America, Arctic regions, India, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East are represented. Coalson's subdued watercolor-and-pastel illustrations capture the hues of twilight and the gentle warmth of bedtime rituals. Nobisso's text reads well aloud and includes words and phrases from various cultures.

...this story will cause readers to stifle yawns and yearn for their cozy beds.

-School Library Journal

A yawn is heard around the world in this sleepy-time story. The first yawn of the night comes from a baby in its mother's arms. The mother catches it, and then the dog produces a canine yawn that hits the beaming moon right in the eye. The moon, in turn, yawns over sites including a Mexican village, an Arctic igloo, a Masai boy guarding cattle and, finally, over another baby at the other end of the world. Coalson's dreamy, soft watercolor artwork has a satisfying roundness about it--in the moon, the babies' faces, the parents' cradling arms --that fits a story that begins and ends with one tiny rounded mouth, and encircles the globe. Part of the fun will be trying to finish without yawning.

-Booklist

Specifications

Author:  Josephine Nobisso

Illustrator:  Glo Coalson

Publisher:  Scholastic, Orchard Books

Trim Size:  w 8" × h 10" w/ Dust Jacket

Pages:  32, Full Color Illustrations

Ages:  2-6

Hardcover ISBN:  0-439-29312-X

Hardcover Price:  US $15.95