Bao Is Not Even a Tiny Bit Sleepy
For the grown-up reading along
"I am not sleepy" is the most reliably false sentence in any house after supper, and this book lets a tired child hear it from somebody else. Bao's plans are clever and every one of them puts him to sleep, and nobody scolds him or wins an argument about it. Mei wakes him with one word and the owl says "Hoo." What changes things is one small true fact, that the owl rests all day, and Bao's own idea to rest first on purpose. He gets the fireflies because he rested, not in spite of it, and then gets to catch his big sister resting her eyes. The song on spread 6 and the counting on spread 8 work best read slower and softer each line. If yawns start going around the room, that is the book working.
Bao Is Not Even a Tiny Bit Sleepy, in full
Every evening, Bao the panda ate his supper in his orange nightcap. Just in case.
Bamboo, and more bamboo, and one more piece of bamboo for luck.
And every evening, before the moon came up, Bao fell asleep, right in the middle of whatever he was doing.
Hrrrnk... shoo.
"You always miss the fireflies," said Mei. Mei was his big sister, and she had seen the fireflies a hundred times.
"When the moon comes up over the mountain," said Mei, "the fireflies come out to dance in the bamboo. Little lights, blinking everywhere."
Bao had never seen a firefly. Not one.
"Tonight," said Bao, "I am staying up."
"You say that every night," said Mei.
"I am not sleepy," said Bao. "Not even a tiny bit." Then he yawned. It was a big one.
Up in the tall pine, an owl opened one eye. "Hoo," said the owl.
"Nobody falls asleep standing up," said Bao. So he stood up.
He stood very straight. He stood very still. He stood very, very... very...
Hrrrnk... shoo.
Slowly, slowly, like a tree in the wind, Bao tipped over. Flump. Right into a soft pile of leaves.
"Bao," said Mei.
Bao sat straight up. "I'm awake! I was just resting my eyes. I am not sleepy. Not even a tiny bit."
Then he yawned. It was a bigger one.
"Hoo," said the owl.
"A loud song," said Bao. "Nobody falls asleep in the middle of a loud song."
"I am AWAKE!" he sang. "I am SO awake! I am the most awake panda in the whole wide world!"
He sang it again, a little slower. "I am awake. I am so awake. I am the most awake panda..."
He sang it again, a little softer. "I am... a... wake... I am... the most..."
Hrrrnk... shoo.
"Bao," said Mei.
"I'm awake!" said Bao. "I was just listening to the song. I am not sleepy. Not even a tiny bit."
Then he yawned the biggest one yet. So did Mei.
"Hoo," said the owl.
"Counting!" said Bao. "Counting keeps you busy." He pointed at the bamboo and counted.
"One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six... sev..."
Hrrrnk... shoo.
"Bao," said Mei.
"I'm awake!" said Bao. "I was just practicing being awake with my eyes shut."
Mei looked up at the owl. "Counting," she said, "is what you do to fall asleep."
"Hoo," said the owl. He had known that all along.
The moon was nearly at the top of the mountain. Bao rubbed his eyes.
"It's no use," he said, in a small voice. "I'm going to miss the fireflies again."
He looked up at the tall pine. "Owl, how do you stay awake all night?"
The owl opened both eyes. That was a very big deal.
"Hoo," said the owl. And then, for the first time anybody could remember, the owl said something else.
"I sleep all day."
Bao's mouth fell open. "ALL DAY?"
The owl closed one eye again. "Hoo."
Bao thought about it. Then he had the best idea he had ever had.
"I will have a get-ready nap," he said. "A little one. And you wake me up when the moon comes over the mountain."
"I promise," said Mei.
So Bao fell asleep on purpose. It was much easier than falling asleep by accident.
Mei sat down beside him to wait. She watched the moon. She watched the mountain. She watched the moon, and the mountain, and the moon...
Hrrrnk... shoo.
"Hoo," said the owl, to nobody.
The moon came up over the mountain, round and white.
Out of the bamboo came one small light. Then two. Then ten. Then more than anybody could count, even somebody wide awake.
One little firefly floated down and landed right on the tip of Bao's nose. Blink. Blink.
Bao opened one eye. Then the other. Then his mouth, very wide, but not for a yawn.
"Mei," he whispered. "Mei! The fireflies!"
Mei sat straight up. "I'm awake!" she said. "I was just resting my eyes."
Bao did not say one word about that. He was too busy looking.
The fireflies danced in the bamboo. They blinked high, and they blinked low. They blinked on Mei's ears, and on Bao's paws, and all along his nightcap.
Bao watched every single one.
"Mei," said Bao, leaning on her shoulder. "I am not sleepy. Not even a tiny..."
Hrrrnk... shoo.
Mei put her arm around him, and the fireflies blinked on and on. Up in the tall pine, the owl stayed awake for both of them.
"Hoo," said the owl. Which, in owl, means goodnight.
