A cuddly tool to help children build positive associations around bedtime and mitigate common fears.
A cozy bedtime story and accompanying plush toy allow families to reframe the narrative of nighttime monsters.
After humans have gone to bed, nocturnal Monster awakens as guardian over the household. Monster monitors the night light, keeps an eye on shadows and an ear out for things that go bump, and chases away scary things under the bed. As Monster amuses the other toys with a bedtime story and other games, young readers can enact the scenario with the toy Monster and their other bedroom friends. Readers can also connect and expand upon Monster’s solo evening adventures, which include partaking in midnight snacking and having a bathroom accident. The narrative encourages questioning, offers affirmations, and invites interaction with a repeated refrain: “And then what did Monster do?” A starry-night theme carries throughout the pages of the book and onto the box containing the plush toy, which also contains a guide for grown-ups for further enrichment tips in how to reduce nighttime anxieties. Specific suggestions include having grown-up and child agree to Monster’s evening placement and the child’s setting Monster’s bedtime routine in the morning. Grown-ups can also encourage a child to talk through their worries and fears with Monster and think of suggestions for working through them. Book and toy are not sold separately.
A cuddly tool to help children build positive associations around bedtime and mitigate common fears. (Guide for grown-ups.) (Picture book & plush toy. 3-6)Pub Date: June 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-970147-05-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A wandering effort, happy but pointless.
The perfect book for kids who love dragons and mild tacos.
Rubin’s story starts with an incantatory edge: “Hey, kid! Did you know that dragons love tacos? They love beef tacos and chicken tacos. They love really big gigantic tacos and tiny little baby tacos as well.” The playing field is set: dragons, tacos. As a pairing, they are fairly silly, and when the kicker comes in—that dragons hate spicy salsa, which ignites their inner fireworks—the silliness is sillier still. Second nature, after all, is for dragons to blow flames out their noses. So when the kid throws a taco party for the dragons, it seems a weak device that the clearly labeled “totally mild” salsa comes with spicy jalapenos in the fine print, prompting the dragons to burn down the house, resulting in a barn-raising at which more tacos are served. Harmless, but if there is a parable hidden in the dragon-taco tale, it is hidden in the unlit deep, and as a measure of lunacy, bridled or unbridled, it doesn’t make the leap into the outer reaches of imagination. Salmieri’s artwork is fitting, with a crabbed, ethereal line work reminiscent of Peter Sís, but the story does not offer it enough range.
A wandering effort, happy but pointless. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3680-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Clever inspiration for bold-hearted storytellers.
Get comfy! This storyteller has just the right tale.
A beige-skinned elflike protagonist sits in the dark by a small fire and invites readers to listen to “THE GREATEST BEDTIME STORY EVER.” Quickly, we flash back to a scene of the elf, in pursuit of literary inspiration, foolishly following an eerie sound to a cave. There, our hero meets a fire-breathing dragon who is unable to sleep without a snack. Fearing the worst (the dragon is eyeing the elf hungrily), the elf offers to tell a bedtime story instead. After the narrator writes and illustrates a story and then reads it aloud, the dragon falls asleep. On the verge of escape, the storyteller suddenly comes to a horrible realization: “I had left behind the Greatest Bedtime Story Ever!” Returning for it, the protagonist steps on a bone, awakens the dragon, and is devoured by the creature. We never do learn what was in the tale told to the dragon, but the one the elf relates is absorbing, an entertaining metafictional riff on the challenges of storytelling. The abrupt conclusion may disturb more sensitive youngsters, but many will find it great fun—they’ll enjoy rereads knowing that the protagonist is narrating from the belly of the beast. Sima’s appealing digital art slyly alternates sweetness (the dragon clutching a plush toy while listening to the story) with tension and even scares (a close-up of that toothy dragon maw).
Clever inspiration for bold-hearted storytellers. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 9, 2026
ISBN: 9781665974523
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2026
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