This is an excellent bedtime book for my two-year-old. As we learned from the weird phenomenon of [b:The Rabbit Who Wants To Fall Asleep: A New Way of Getting Children to Sleep|21915666|The Rabbit Who Wants To Fall Asleep A New Way of Getting Children to Sleep|Carl-Johan Forssén Ehrlin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1437770588s/21915666.jpg|40305551], yawning a lot while you read that last bedtime story tricks your kid into feeling extra sleepy (or something like that). So I suggest yawning dramatically every time someone in the book yawns (all 20 times).

Happily, unlike that dumb rabbit book, this book is delightful. Warm and fuzzy without being saccharine. The text is beautiful, not overly flowery. The illustrations are adorable. The family appears to be multiracial (white dad, brown mom and daughter). Lucy has a special teddy bear named Molasses and so my daughter now calls her teddy bear Molasses.

This is a keeper. ( )

Note: I received an F&G of this book at an ALA conference. ( )

This story follows a family through a fun-filled, and then into the night. During the night, the little girl finds herself awake alone but finally she and her stuffed animals yawn themselves to sleep.

This is a very cute book which features an African-american and white blended family. While I initially thought it would be a more standard goodnight type of book, I was pleasantly surprised to see a slightly different structure where the little girl actually takes on some self-soothing to help her sleep after adults have already gone to bed.

Twenty Yawns by Jane Smiley and illustrated by Lauren Castillo is a book I would use as a nap time or bedtime read. The illustrations are beautiful but I did not find the story particularly exciting or the characters particularly engaging, but I think the point of the book is to create a sense of calmness and rest and the book accomplishes well. The illustrations in particular help create a mood of calm rest. One page which shows a sunset skyline using what appears to be chalk helps create a sense of softness and rest. I also think the book provides a counting opportunity for children, as the book is called twenty yawns, and the word "yawn" appears twenty times. However, I think if one wants to read a counting book there are better options available. I believe the "big picture" of this book is about how taking care of our friends (even if those friends are stuffed animals) can help us all feel calm in a new or scary environment. ( )

This is a book about a little girl who spends the day at the beach with her family. The whole family is worn out by time they arrive home. After Mom reads her a bed-time story the little girl dozes off, only to wake up in the middle of the night. She brings all her stuffed animals to bed, and after many yawns, she is finally asleep for the night. The illustrations are beautiful and well deserving of the Caldecott award they received. This book serves as a good model for writing a wholesome family book. ( )