The Midnight Babies
Isabel Greenberg
Abrams Books for Young Readers

The midnight hour strikes but one little toddler is wide awake and waiting. What for you might be wondering: the arrival of the Midnight Babies and they arrive from near and far, some on their feet, others on their knees or perhaps hitching a ride. they’ve brought along a variety of musical instruments and other sound-making equipment to clash and batter along the way.

Tonight it’s the turn of Wide-Awake Baby to lead the parade to Nodoff.. With a rousing song, off they go on their quest, first through the Forest of Nightlights. Here as in other places along the route, the heinous forces of sleep are doing their utmost to lure the tots into slumber and it’s a golden light that one of their number finds irresistible. Zzzzzzz!

Next comes the Sea of Stories where a storyfish with seabooks is too strong a temptation for another baby

but plenty are left to move on to the Garden of Lullabies – uh oh! a third baby drops off.

Now it’s time to cross the Rockabye River and that requires great determination to resist its rolling motion – another baby is lulled by the gentle undulating.

Finally the somewhat depleted army reaches the shores of Nodoff where waits a decidedly intimidating Teddy Army. The babies create a great cacophony but its no match or the blanket of darkness that envelops them, one by one, till every one has succumbed save Wide-Awake. Is there anything that could tempt her to Sleep. “Her eyes begin to close. No. Never! Must . . . stay . . . awake . . . ALL NIGHT.’ But wouldn’t it be nice, oh so nice, to go to Sleep?” … Finally ahhhh-hhaaaaaa! She joins the others in the land of Sleep where they play and eat the night away, unable to remember why they ever tried so hard to stay awake.

The next morning Wide-Awake Baby, aware she fell victim to sleep, resolves to resist more strongly that night …

Featuring as it does, lots of wide-eyed tots, this wry story is definitely not one to read to little ones just before bedtime. The lively pencil and charcoal illustrations, digitally coloured, offer plenty to explore and keep the eyes of tinies wide open.