It Simply Can’t Be Bedtime

Budding Anglophiles should be rather keen on this tale of a child whose bedtime avoidance is aided by Lady Pigsworth: a proper pink porcine stuffie sporting a Royal Ascot–worthy hat and a Union Jack handbag. Pretend play collides with domestic demands as the girl’s bedraggled father attempts to wrap up an evening’s events. Lady Pigsworth insists, using a formidable tone, that he’s overlooking essential steps: pajama-donning, teeth-brushing, and more. But as the hour grows later and the pig’s delay tactics become increasingly elaborate—she suggests a piping hot cuppa and silk sheets strewn with flower petals—the child begins to tire of the stuffie’s schemes. “Please keep it short. It’s way past her bedtime,” the youth whispers when Lady Pigsworth demands a lullaby. In this extended bedtime romp, digital drawings by Salerno (On the Corner of Chocolate Avenue), rendered in deep shades of pink, purple, and blue, tell the story in bold strokes, while dialogue by Paul (Rectangle Time) crackles with British turns of phrase. Human characters are portrayed with pale skin and black hair. Ages 4–8. (May)