In Milo and the Big Yawn, Milo Crenshaw is a mischievous boy with the annoying ability to make everyone yawn.
In other words, Milo is a bit of a brat.
He loves tormenting his sisters, teachers, classmates, police officers, and everyone else he sees. That is, until one day when Milo discovers the joy of being a hero instead. He learns that using his talent to deal with bullies and scary lions and helping kids and parents is a lot more fun and rewarding. Impossible to read without yawning in appreciation of the story, this humorous book makes the perfect bedtime reading.
(review request submitted by the author for an honest critique)
Everyone is different to some degree. Your uniqueness might stem from a physical trait, talent, hobby, skill, life choices, etc. For Milo Crenshaw, nobody could yawn bigger than him.
Have you ever found yourself yawning just because someone near you did? I have, and the people occupying space near Milo couldn’t help but succumb to the need to stretch their faces and deliver one large yawn, too. Some individuals who witnessed Milo’s superpower didn’t just yawn once and go about their day. No, many people yawned and fell asleep like the principal and soccer players.
You’ve heard the infamous line, “With great power comes great responsibility.” In the case of the two bullies, Milo used his superpower, aka his infectious yawns, to put the brother/bullies asleep. Nice move! His yawns also had a surprising effect on a zoo animal. (Identity withheld on purpose. Read the story to learn more.)
Milo became famous for his superpower. Parents called him, asking if he would use his power to get their kids to sleep at night.
If Milo’s power was present in the real world, he could’ve made a fortune working his sleepy time magic on all the world’s children!
Adult insomniacs would definitely utilize his power to get some much-needed zzzz’s.
I had mixed feelings regarding the illustrations. The zoo animal was cute. Bullies catching some zzz’s was funny. I didn’t care for the long and large round faces of the non-yawning people. Kids will likely find them humorous. On a separate note, I didn’t understand why Milo’s yawns didn’t affect every parent in the group yawn image (17). I would’ve also moved the text fully onto the purple background for easy visibility. Maybe even bump up font size on every page. (I am mentioning these suggestions because I had to enlarge the text on the PDF.)
Milo and the Big Yawn was a cute, funny, quick read that will induce yawns. The perfect time to read this book is at naptime or bedtime.
Amazon’s recommended reading age is 4-9 years.
Heart Rating System:
1 (lowest) and 5 (highest)
Score: ❤❤❤❤
Meet the Author
A former copywriter at top New York City advertising agencies, Milt Lowe has won over 60 major awards -including Gold and Silver Lions at the TV Cannes Film Festival – and has written humor pieces for The New York Daily News and Advertising Age. Milt has written four children’s books so far.