Don't Close Your Eyes: A Silly Bedtime Story by Bob Hostetler, Illustrated by Mark Chambers

A fun concept for a children's book along the lines of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (Mo Willems, 2003), Don't Close Your Eyes is a padded board book that encourages kids to fall asleep by telling them not to do the inevitable--closing their eyes and going to sleep. Each rhyming quatrain split into two lines on each side of the spread describes how various animals prepare for bed, recaps the days activities, and provides arguments for staying awake--"Life's too sweet to spend it sleeping" (16). Though the text is cute and the rhyming lines have a nice rhythm, it's the illustrations that set this book apart.

Mark Chambers' illustrations feature different animals on each spread, often with what appears to be both parent(s) and child(ren) of a particular animal family, as well as other random animals. The best part about them is that although most of the animals have half-closed eyes or completely closed, there's always at least one animal with eyes wide open, which looks hilarious and adorable. In the second to last spread, all of the foxes' eyes are partially or completely closed, and the final spread has a mix of animals all sound asleep.

Little details like a ladybug on a fence post and nearly camouflaged fish in the pond make nice treats for the attentive reader.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.

Jelly Bean Blessings illustrated by Maddie Frost

Jelly Bean Blessings is a fun, easy, rhyming board book that showcases color anthropomorphized animals enthusiastically participating in springtime activities.

Each spread has a five line stanza where the first three lines rhyme: "Our kites will soar up high / Into the bright blue sky. / We'll run until they fly!" (9). The fourth  line is the same word repeated three times, increasing in size as it goes from purple, to green, to yellow: "GO, GO, GO" (9). And the fifth is a more direct statement of an activity to do together: "Let's fly our brand-new kites!" (9). Other activities include eating jelly beans, picking flowers, splashing in puddles, planting seeds, biking, hiking, spring cleaning, and feeding birds. The only divergence from this pattern is the last spread, in which the repeated word line is omitted for the final exclamation, "Thank God for springtime blessings!"

Though the text is written in third person plural (i.e., "we") point of view, the illustrations feature a fox, alligator and pig as the main actants. Other animals make occasional appearances. The illustrations appear computer generated, with precise outlines, but textured fill like crayon on construction paper. There is a nice amount of detail in the pictures, with little touches like the fox holding trail map for the hiking spread and a bakery and pizzeria in the background for the biking spread.

A missed opportunity is that at least one lady bug appears on every spread except the one where it is raining. It is a bonus "Where's Waldo?" activity and it would've been really neat if the ladybug was under the umbrella or inside one of the buildings. (Unless of course its hiding so well that I missed it!)

The book is charming in its rhyme scheme and happy animals. It tries to convey that even cleaning can be fun when you're doing it with family or friends (ha). But does impart that a rainbow, and all of the other activities in the book, are blessings from God. As a whole, there's nothing that really makes it stand apart, but it is a nice book.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, but was not required to post a positive review.