THE YAWN HEARD ’ROUND THE WORLD

In a joint debut for both Thomas and Mai-Wyss, the unusual subject of the highly contagious nature of a yawn is combined with a whirlwind tour to create an amusing story that works despite the unlikely premise and a sing-songy rhyming text. A little girl named Sara doesn’t want to go to bed, although she is sleepy enough for one huge yawn that starts off a chain reaction. The yawn moves on to her mother, her dog, her father, her Aunt Lucy in Cuba and then on to the world. The yawn travels on to Paris in a funny scene with a yawning Eiffel Tower, and then to Africa, up in space, over China, Russia, and the Pacific Ocean, and on to South America. The yawns blow back into Sara’s neighborhood, with two tiny yawning birds perched on a fold-out flap of Sara’s pink house. Mai-Wyss uses her charming watercolors to great effect, illustrating some difficult concepts. Globally minded teachers and parents will enjoy helping children find the story’s locations on a globe or world map. (Picture book. 4-7)