Overcrowding in the parental sack gets humorous treatment, if an unlikely ending, in this quest for a good night’s sleep. When Ben is just a baby, he is a welcome presence in bed with his mother and father, but babies grow. When Billy arrives, the father buys himself a bigger bed; when the twins arrive, he must make a larger bed himself, large enough for the triplets who come along shortly thereafter. The bed is so colossal, and its citizenry so vast, that it takes on a life of its own. The father commands the mob to disband, ordering them to sleep in a great tiered bunk-bed system he constructs, and gets a simple double for himself and his wife. Readers won’t be surprised when he can’t sleep until the gang returns, packed in like sardines. This good-hearted tribute strikes many familiar notes, as do the spray of feet and arms akimbo depicted by Langley. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Feb. 29, 2000
ISBN: 0-06-028687-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
Gliori (Mr. Bear Babysits, etc.) offers a version of the adage that it takes a village to raise a child, when Mr. and Mrs. Bear get help from a community of loving friends in soothing their fretful newborn. When the serenity of the nighttime forest is shattered by the incessant wailing of Mr. Bear’s newest child, the woodland animals offer the bleary parents suggestions on how they put their own offspring to sleep. With ingenious and amusing results, Gliori devises forest-appropriate baby furniture, from Mr. Bun’s lettuce and carrot cradle to Mrs. Buzz’s honey-filled hive. Alas, none of these remedies works and soon the friends drift back to their own homes. Only Small Bear can enlighten her parents as to what the baby needs—a warm snuggle in bed with the family. The endearing illustrations are brimming with humorous details. The bedroom of Mr. and Mrs. Bear looks as if a small whirlwind hit it—it is strewn with tiny clothes, small toys, the ubiquitous pile of baby care manuals, ointment, and more—deftly conveying the way one very small and helpless creature can reorient a family’s entire universe. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30152-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
In facile rhyme, a preschooler lists all the things she can do: “I can dress myself in my very own clothes. I can brush my teeth. I can blow my nose.” These boasts are addressed to her baby brother as her mother goes through the day caring for them both. The girl shown is wildly active, and her poses recall those of the haughty Eloise of Plaza Hotel fame as she upturns food and batter on the kitchen floor, frolics in the house, goes down a slide head-first, and splashes in the tub, disturbing her mother, who has the baby in her arms. The preschooler generously explains to the baby, “And when you get bigger, do you know what I’ll do? I’ll teach every one of these things to you.” The illustrations, executed with a fine, loose drawing style, portray a chaotic but normal, believable household with modern, identifiable objects and scenarios. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: March 30, 1999
ISBN: 0-694-01200-9
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
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