SLEEPY PUPPY

Sleepy puppies put off going to bed as long as they can.

The often desperate nighttime ritual of baby’s bedtime is tweaked slightly by this board book that grafts the experience onto a variety of adorable puppies. The animals demand drinks of water, check under the bed for monsters, and inspect their blankets before finally settling down for the night. The board book gets the job done in terms of narrative—the final image is of a boxer puppy and a child catching some zzzs—but the delivery is bland. The text is composed entirely of imagined puppy dialogue and runs to such zestless statements as “But I don’t want to sleep. I just want to play.” Even the most susceptible readers may find that the pictures of charming pups get a little old by book's end. The stock photos are nice enough, but an illustrated pooch would no doubt convey far more personality than these do. A similar title, Sleepy Kitty, is also available. 

Only for dedicated lovers of pictures of animal babies.