SLEEP TIGHT HOOPY DOOPY

A hippo travels through a Seussian dreamland in this colorfully illustrated, silly bedtime story for young readers.

In this bedtime romp, pediatric emergency physician Nager (Angels in Action, 2010) teams with debut author Leon and artist Trujillo to introduce a hippo who dreams of crazy animals and wacky machines. When hippo Hoopy Doopy goes to bed, his real adventures begin. After several pages celebrating the wondrous land that fills Hoopy’s dreams, a fun two-page spread with a numeric countdown welcomes readers into dreamland. Full of ice cream, spotted elephants, airplanes with popcorn for wings and cotton candy clouds, Hoopy’s dreams are presented as a list of absurd items that rhyme. There is no plot here, just a series of goofy ideas that may give readers a giggle. The rhyme pattern is solidly presented, and the meter is strong. The illustrations occasionally look like a blend of Dr. Seuss-like images, such as the purple pigs in a yellow tree, with clip art. Trujillo repeats some images identically—Hoopy appears in bed in the first image, with a full repeat of the same on the last page, and clips of a portion of the image occur elsewhere in the book. During the dream sequences, the many unique ideas and creatures featured clutter the illustrations and don’t give children time to dwell on any particular strange animal. Still, the fun factor, absurd humor and bright colors should appeal to young readers.

Adults may be impressed with the packed pages of this picture book, but toddlers will most likely love its multicolored, imaginary animals.