AN AFTER BEDTIME STORY

Much to their parents’ dismay, two siblings crash an adults-only party.

After putting young Nina to bed, her parents attempt to sneak back to their sophisticated gathering. Nina refuses to be left alone. Clad in only a pink tutu, necklace, and a crown, Nina becomes the star of the party. She samples the desserts, bathes her doll in the punch bowl, and draws on the wall while her parents unsuccessfully try to send her back to bed. The commotion wakes up the youngest family member. The energetic siblings even rope the guests into their games while their parents collapse in exhaustion. Originally published in Hebrew and translated into English by Appel, Smith’s story depicts a battle recognizable to many families. Adults will empathize with the frustrated parents, while young readers will gleefully follow the siblings’ misadventures. Adults who are worried their young ones may copy the book’s party crashers will be relieved that everyone joins the clean-up effort. Tsarfati’s lively illustrations fill in Smith’s open-ended rhyming couplets by providing witty visual punch lines and capture Nina’s boundless energy and impish antics with a minimal color palette. They are New Yorker–stylish, depicting a white family that looks delightfully real, pot bellies and all.

A delightful tale for young readers who don’t want to go to bed.