My students thought this was a lot of fun. This would be a great book to read before bed. ( )

Fed up with bedtime, Gabby Wild drags her Granny on a madcap adventure through Never Sleeping City in this entertaining picture-book romp. But when Granny gives in to a yawn, the soporific after-effects begin to spread, despite all of Gabby's efforts to contain them. Soon all of Never Sleeping City is beginning to yawn, and to nod off. Gabby herself, now back in bed, yields to the power of the Sandman, although the narrator assures us that her dreams were wild indeed...

An absolute delight of a picture-book, Stop That Yawn! is, despite its denials midway through the book, very much a bedtime tale. Entertaining and ultimately lulling, it pairs an engaging story from author Caron Levis with immensely appealing artwork from illustrator LeUyen Pham. I thought that the yawn's contagious nature, depicted in the artwork as a kind of cloud that sweeps through the city, catching everyone with whom it comes into contact up in its soporific effect, was very well communicated, with the visual depiction perfectly suited to text, in which Gabby rushes around trying to stop it. As everyone know, yawns are indeed contagious, and hard to stop, once they get going. Recommended to anyone looking for fun bedtime books. ( )

This wild ride of a bedtime story is an homage to one of my favorite books, In the Night Kitchen, features the awesome art of LeUyen Pham, and basically was designed for me (and many others) to fall in love immediately.

Gabby Wild is tired of bedtime and living in Sleepytown. So her Granny packs them up into Gabby's bed and they set out on an exciting journey to... Never Sleeping City! In this exciting place, populated by anthropomorphous animals, flashing neon signs, and a variety of humans, there's always something going on. Opera, carnival, ice cream, it's wonderful! But then, as they're riding the ferris wheel Granny lets a yawn escape! Despite Gabby's desperate efforts to contain the yawn, "Grit your teeth, seal your lips, we have to stop that...YAWN" the yawn quickly spreads across Never Sleeping City and even to the readers! Finally, even Gabby succumbs and finds herself back in her bed, fast asleep and dreaming of new adventures.

Although the story delivers a nod to Sendak, it's wholly new and its own. The brisk text has a contemporary beat and mixes in the current trend of interactive books. Pham's art shows a bustling city, peopled with Sendak-like animals in elaborate costumes, but she also adds her own sweet touches from Gabby's beaded hair to Granny's tennis shoes and the old radiator in their small apartment. This is a much more diverse and contemporary world than Sendak's, but it still has all the charm of an imaginary city.

Verdict: Read this at storytime, to reluctant kids at bedtime, or just for fun any time of the day! I hope this will become a modern classic; it certainly deserves it.

ISBN: 9781481441797; Published October 16, 2018 by Atheneum; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

This is a fun trip into imagination with lots of energy and a very addictive yawn to pull into the world of dreams.

Gabby Wild is ready for an adventure...not bedtime. When Grandma tries to tuck her in, they shoot off into an adventure instead to Sleepytown. Here, life is excitement pure with shows and dance and lights galore. But when one person yawns, the problem begins. Gabby must stop that yawn before it causes the entire Sleepytown to want to go to bed.

Boredom is not a word in these pages. Instead the adventure is wild, fantasy packed and quick paced the whole way through. Set up more in comic style, the illustrations let imaginations fly. The balance between the text and the illustrations holds the story and allows young listeners the possibility to glance through the story on their own and still understand what is happening. Especially the granny is fun to watch as she joins in the race to stop sleep.

While the story keeps an exciting pace the whole way through...which might not appear to invite to sleep...when that yawn hits, so does the slow down. Yawns are contagious, which makes this book end on a fun note. Even luring the listener in.

Young listeners (and slightly more sure readers) ages four and up will find giggles and fun in these pages.

I received a complimentary copy and loved the imagination so much that I wanted to leave my honest thoughts. ( )