CLOSE YOUR EYES

What to do when even the usual cure for insomnia—views of small, fuzzy animals drowsing off—doesn’t work.

It’s a new suite of impossibly fuzzy, cute, photorealistic baby animals of the sort that continue to render readers of Houran and Hanson’s Next to You: A Book of Adorableness (2016) helpless. A tableau of yawning, cozy goat kids with peepers shuttered or at half-mast accompanies the suggestive line: “I bet you can’t wait to / close… / your…”—but the book immediately upsets expectations with the page turn, offering a contrasting view of a tiny tarsier with huge, bright eyes and the surprised observation: “Oh! / You are WIDE awake.” How about reverse psychology then? “Let’s stay up!” Just try to ignore the “baby ape with the blankie,” the snoozing little fox, and, if at all possible, the bunny and the guinea pig snuggled together. “Come on! / That’s not even FAIR!” the unseen narrator protests indignantly. But the toughest challenge is saved for the end: “PUPPIES. / Argh!” There’s only one way to keep from seeing them. Houran and Hanson once again manage a delicate balancing act, both poking fun at the soft-focus cutesy-animal books that crowd shelves and at the same time unapologetically bathing readers in their gauzy glow.

A truly compelling ticket to slumberland for even the most wakeful nappy-clad night owl.