When a young African American girl's bedtime reading routine is interrupted by her father's busy work schedule, she fires him as storybook reader and posts an ad for a new one. Charmingly, a number of recognizable children's book characters respond, from the Three Little Pigs to Goldilocks, each one humorously failing in a manner that mirrors their own stories eeping Beauty conks out mid-sentence, the Gingerbread Man runs off with the book, and Cinderella gets soot on the pages. Things are looking bleak until the final candidate nails his interview and gets hired. Kids will have fun trying to figure out the identity of this victorious reader, who looks suspiciously familiar. Readers will easily engage with this adorable book, both through its familiar literary characters and the young girl's love of reading with a parent, making it a welcome addition to the collections of librarians or reading specialists. Other relatable tales about loving to read include Sarah Stewart's The Library (1995) and Sandra Pinkney's Read and Rise (2006).

Shailey, a brown-skinned girl who sports a pink bandanna, adores bedtime because her dad reads to her every night. But when he gets a new job, his work-life balance suffers, and the child fires him from his position as bedtime storyteller. Selecting a replacement from the applicant pool proves challenging, however, when none of the fairy tale interviewees (Snow White and Cinderella among them) can get the job done just right. Warm digital illustrations highlight Shailey-s plight, and the job posting, which Shailey updates after each failed round of interviews, provides a colorful recurrent motif. Professional diction throughout-such as -individual applicants- and -impressive résumé--and a message about screen time seem more geared toward adult caretakers than young kids, but the look at distractions readers face in a constantly moving digital world will likely prove resonant with adults and children alike. Ages 4-7. (Mar.)