Yawn Heard Round the World Book

Here's your ticket to a 'round-the-world journey with a most unusual tour guide. Departing from Sarah's bedroom, her yawn makes an eastbound tour of the globe through Cuba, France, Chad, Russia, China, the blue Pacific, Peru and beyond. Will it ever stop?! Bouncy rhymes and watercolor collages enliven each episode in this infectiously funny tale of a silent phenomenon familiar to even the most wide-awake sleepyhead in the world.

Publishers Weekly

What does a yawn spawn? More yawns, of course, as this whimsical story by two newcomers demonstrates. As young Sara fights bedtime ("I'm not through having fun today./ Let me stay up. I want to play!"), a gigantic yawn overtakes her. Her infectious yawn quickly spreads to the rest of her family-animals included-then over phone lines and across oceans before the far-flung yawn returns to find Sara (with the lift of a flap) asleep. Thomas's verse grows a bit awkward as the lines go in search of a rhyme ("Russia! China! The blue Pacific/ where the cruise ship Miss Terrific/ was plowing through a gusty gale/ That yawn surprised a big blue whale") but Mai-Wyss's spry illustrations remain consistently energized. Snatches of collage contribute added visual interest: a photo of an actual triangular quilt edge trims Sara's bedspread; small snapshots of real homes sit alongside paintings of others. In an inspired touch, the artist uses a confetti-like motif of tiny x's, o's and miniscule dots in bright colors to convey the contagious yawn as it jumps from Cuba to Paris (where a lady dining on noodles with three fancy pink poodles "plopped into a soggy snooze") before spreading to Chad, Peru and beyond. Especially clever is the scene of a panda and brown bear, who represent China and Russia, respectively, drowsily stretching as the yawn hits them via space satellite. A round-the-globe jaunt that is far from ho-hum. Ages 3-7. (Apr.) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.