about the book
Don’t do it! No really, don’t yawn!
The moment you yawn, your mom will have you tubbed and scrubbed, teeth brushed, plunked into your footie jammies, read to, sung to, and all tucked into bed with the lights off before you even realize how you got there!
A round-headed toddler clearly feels the outrage of bedtime, and he is our tongue-in-cheek guide to evading each and every yawn trap.
He says you should avoid sleepy dogs, stay away from cuddly blankets, keep away from squishy stuffed animals, and when your sister yawns, don’t look!
Yawns are sneaky. Yawns are very catching!
Clamp your mouth shut. Don’t squish your eyes closed. Don’t open your mouth wide, and for heaven’s sake, don’t yaaawwwwnnn! Mom will spot a yawn every single time!
about the author
Helene Boudreau is Acadian Métis. Acadian means that she speaks both English and a special dialect of Canadian French; Métis means that she can trace her lineage back to the first indigenous people of Canada, the Inuit and the First Nations. Over the years, the culture of the First Nations mixed with the Europeans that settled Canada, and their descendants are the Métis.
Helen was born and raised in a very large family in the small Nova Scotia fishing village of Petit de Grat, on Isle Madame, a tiny island in the Atlantic Ocean. She first started dreaming about being an author on the day her 4thh grade teacher published a picture book. That day Helene rushed straight home and created her very own picture book. But it was nearly thirty years later before she began to pursue a career as a children’s author.
Helene earned a biology degree from Dalhousie University and worked as an interpreter for the Canadian Parks Service. She later trained as a respiratory therapist. She lives in Markham, Ontario, with her husband Gordon Clarke, a retired lieutenant, and their two daughters, Charlotte and Michelle.
The idea for I Dare You Not to Yawn came from her four-year-old daughter. The little imp would sit at the dinner table and let out a great big YAWNN! Then she would watch, and of course, one by one everyone else started to yawn. It took them a while to figure out that she was doing it on purpose! Helene gets a lot of her ideas from her two girls. They crack her up every single day!
Sources:
Author interview: Inkygirl
Author interview: Author Turf
about the illustrator
Serge Bloch’s mission is life is to make people smile. If his readers grin while reading a book he has illustrated, he’s ecstatic!
Serge has been drawing for more than thirty years and is one of the most prolific illustrators in France—more than 300 books so far! His sketches have also appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, and National Geographic. His series Max and Lili has sold more than 1.5 million copies, and his work has been turned into two different television series.
One, “SamSam,” is seen by over 200 million children worldwide.
Serge was born in 1956 in Colmar, France, a large city on the border of Germany and France. He worked a series of blue-color jobs and traveled extensively before studying at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs de Strasbourg. For 24 years he worked for a children’s publishing house and became the chief visual editor for the newspaper Astrapi. There he developed his own unique style.
Serge’s sketches are all about simple lines. He isn’t interested in color at all. Inspired by everyday things, he tries to interpret them with humor, warmth, and a childlike simplicity.
Serge lives in both New York City and Paris. He loves both cities because he is a bit of a loner and they are great places to meet new friends!
Sources:
Illustrator website
Illustrator interview: Brodner’s Bicycle
Illustrator spotlight: China
Illustrator spotlight: Impecunious Troubadour
Also illustrated by Serge Bloch:
I Scream, Ice Cream! : A Book of Wordles by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Chronicle Books. 2013.
My Snake Blake by Randy Siegel. Roaring Brook Press. 2012.
read more!
A Bedtime for Bear by Bonny Becker
Bear is not happy about the squeaky little mouse who is spending the night in his den. Bear needs absolute silence to sleep, and the little mouse is humming and whispering and driving him crazy! But when all is finally totally silent, the cranky bear finds that having a friend, even a wiggly mouse, is awfully nice when nighttime sounds turn scary!
Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! by Mo Willems
A picky pigeon does not want to go to bed. He proclaims he is not tired, and his stuffed bunny wants to stay up. He wants to watch a TV show about birds, and he needs a glass of water. On and on, he comes up with all sorts of ways to avoid bed. But then he gives a big yawn!
I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed by Lauren Child
Whenever older brother Charlie tells his little sister Lola that it is time for bed, Lola always gives him trouble. She isn’t sleepy, so why does she have to go to bed? Charlie says the birds have gone to sleep—but Lola isn’t a bird! Charlie says to brush her teeth—but a lion is using Lola’s toothbrush! What can Charlie do to get his sister to quiet down and finally go to bed?