Help wanted, Must love books by Janet Sumner Johnson, illustrated by Courtney Dawson

Shailey, the sweet and sassy little black girl pictured on the cover, loves bedtime. Because bedtime is storytime with her dad! But now that he's got a new job, their bedtime storytimes are a thing of the past and Shailey is NOT happy. She determines to find a replacement bedtime reader and starts interviewing candidates, all from classic fairy tales. Unfortunately, none of them are quite right. The Big Bad Wolf scares off the three little pigs, Snow White brings all the dwarves, and so on. Each night Shailey adds another proviso to her job ad, as she gets giants, thieving gingerbread men, and frightening pirates. Shailey is about to give up, when one last applicant shows up. He's a very familiar Robin Hood and turns out to be just the right person for the job - especially when he promises to put away his work during her bedtime ritual.

Dawson's illustrations are slick and colorful, with the perspectives of the various fairy tale critters changing from the giant, well, giant, to Goldilocks trying out Shailey's furniture. All the fairy tale characters, however, are white, with the exception of Shailey's father dressed up as Robin Hood and a couple of the dwarves. This seems unnecessary, especially as the protagonist is black. Why shouldn't Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty be black? It sends, in my opinion, the wrong message, reinforcing the fairy tale standard of beauty as white, thin women.

Overall, it's a cute story. Shailey is a strong character and interviews her possible storytellers like a champ, figuring out as she goes along how to change her application. Her dad's eventual capitulation isn't clearly explained, but it's a satisfying end to the story.

Verdict: The all-white fairy tale cast drops this from recommended to a possible addition to bedtime reading, in my opinion, but other than that it's a cute story.

ISBN: 9781684460755; Published March 2020 by Capstone; Review copy provided by the publisher