BEDTIME FOR BUTTON
by Amber Stewart and illustrated by Layn Marlow
As Button gets ready for sleep, he remembers the scary tree-bear he saw that day; to allay his fears, Daddy Bear tells Button about “a day when there were no scary things….The day you were born….” Marlow provides a sequence of comforting spreads that juxtapose Button and Daddy Bear at bedtime against Daddy’s warm memories of Button’s birth day—which was a day much like this one, Button realizes, and gradually Daddy’s and Button’s memories mingle till nothing but sweet dreams are left. This woodland interlude invites inevitable comparison with such well-known powerhouses as Guess How Much I Love You? and Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear? Stacked against them, this hasn’t much new to offer in tone, and it’s downright pallid as an anxiety-buster when compared to Bedtime for Frances. Skip it. (Picture book. 3-5)