Parents of young children are obsessed with bedtime. We paint the nursery in calm pastels, pipe in white noise and read soothing stories in hopes of speeding and easing our children’s transition into sleep. From Margaret Wise Brown’s classic Goodnight Moon to Sandra Boynton’s The Going-to-Bed Book, bookstore shelves are full of soporific books. Beep! Beep! Go to Sleep!, written by Todd Tarpley and illustrated by Caldecott honoree John Rocco, offers a refreshingly hip take on the bedtime story.
It’s time for bed, and three rowdy robots wreak havoc, none of them in the mood to power down. Each robot needs the hi-tech equivalent of a human toddler—tweaking of bolts, checking for properly adjusted fan belts, and maybe an extra sip of oil. A boy patiently attends to them, desperately hoping they will fall asleep.
The robot tykes’ final bedtime request for a bedtime story proves to be the magic bullet. The twist at story’s end will give children and adults a chuckle, and Rocco’s clever and lively illustrations, though not remotely sleep-inducing, entertain throughout.
The next time you confront a little one determined to stay awake, grab a copy of Beep Beep! Go to Sleep! Whether or not your child succumbs to sleep, you’ll enjoy a laugh together and end the day in a happier mood.
Billie B. Little is the Founding Director of Discovery Center at Murfree Spring, a hands-on museum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
