How to Make a Bedtime
Published January 28, 2025
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
It's time for bed, and a little boy and his parents (who is portrayed as a bear) poetically discuss the elements of what make a bedtime. A sloshy bath, followed by cozy pajamas, leads to looking for a teddy bear to take to bed. After some searching, the boy and his bear are tucked up tight, but it's still not time. Some songs, a hug and a kiss, and even a story are necessary. The sleepy little boy makes no objection to putting his head down and falling asleep as the parent bear trundles away.
Books about bedtime often involve some youngsters that aren't too keen on turning in, like Alves' Time for Bed, Little Owls, Strasser's So Tired, So Wide Awake, Shea's Oh, Are You Awake, and Cummins' Sleepy Sheepy and the Sheepover, so it's refreshing to see a clearly tired child (who can barely keep his eyes open!) patiently put up with the parent's protracted ritual. Of course, it's awfully hard to say no to a lullabye or a couple of bedtime books!
The text is in rhyming verse that flows smoothly. The language is somewhat more poetic than many picture book, with lines like "cloud-soft" pajamas, "purpling sighs", and "snuggly slumbery snory", but is otherwise fairly simple and calm, which will make for a nice bedtime read.
The pictures have a definite chalk pastel feel to them, which makes the pages look as cozy as the text makes the story sound. The little boy looks a tiny bit like Sendak's Max in Where the Wild Things are; something about his nose, perhaps, although he acts nothing like him. The story is just long enough to make this book a frequent entry into a nighttime line up.
I'm a little confused as to why the parent was a bear. I had come to terms with that, but then the final page shows the bear walking down the stairs like a human, then getting down on all fours to cross the room.
No comments:
Post a Comment