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WHEN YOUR MONKEYS WON'T GO TO BED

Name: WHEN YOUR MONKEYS WON'T GO TO BED
Author: Susanna Leonard Hill
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0565-3

From the When Your… series

by Susanna Leonard Hill ; illustrated by Daniel Wiseman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 28, 2018

Preschoolers will giggle, and many a tired caregiver will secretly rejoice in knowing that other families also struggle with...

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A clever child uses sneaky tactics to lull two energetic monkeys to sleep.

Charged with getting her recalcitrant monkeys off to dreamland, a resourceful young girl concocts a series of games (go upstairs “without touching the floor!”), tactics (pretend to yawn so the monkeys will too), and projects (build a cozy tent in order to entice them into slumber) to accomplish the nightly ritual of bath, teeth brushing, stories, and bed. Although the girl eventually prevails, it’s not before she too conks out on the bedroom floor with the monkeys, an ending that drifts off a tad too placidly after such a lively beginning. Kids will enjoy the wry second-person narration and animated scenes of monkeys swinging from chandeliers and having feathery pillow fights, but it’s the grown-ups who have woken, sore and disoriented in floor tents of their own, who might have the most rueful of smiles. The predominantly white background sets off the thick-lined cartoon illustrations and draws attention to the brown and tan monkeys and the white girl’s gingery hair. Clever visual gimmicks—cameos from other animals from the When Your… series, books with such titles as The Count of Monkey Cristo—all add to the general sense of silliness.

Preschoolers will giggle, and many a tired caregiver will secretly rejoice in knowing that other families also struggle with bedtime-averse monkeys . (Board book. 2-4)

Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-5344-0565-3

Page Count: 26

Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

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YOU'RE THE STAR IN MY SKY
by Susanna Leonard Hill ; illustrated by Natalie Vasilica

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ALPHABEDTIME
by Susanna Leonard Hill ; illustrated by Betsy Snyder

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DEAR GRANDMA
by Susanna Leonard Hill ; illustrated by John Joseph

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TEENY TINY GHOST

by Rachel Matson ; illustrated by Joey Chou ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 30, 2019

A satisfying friendship story to share with very young children in the days leading up to Halloween.

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This board book twists the traditional “Teeny Tiny” tale into a less-scary Halloween treat.

This version uses a singsong-y rhythm and cadence to tell the story. “In the teeny tiny barn / Of a teeny tiny house... / Lived a teeny tiny ghost / and a teeny tiny mouse.” Of course the ghost (being teeny tiny) is not very frightening. “But the determined little ghost / Let her mighty courage through / And with a teeny tiny breath / She said a teeny tiny: boo.” Spoiler alert: After just seven page turns the ghost and mouse become friends: “And now the teeny tinies play / In the teeny tiny house. / Just a teeny tiny ghost / And her best friend, mouse.” Pumpkins decorate the cover and final spread and illustrations throughout are in autumnal hues. The fairly high-for-the-format word count—19 to 21 words per page—may be more than toddlers will sit still for, but the “teeny tiny” repetition and rhymes will help. The size (just 6 inches square) makes using the book with a group a challenge, but with a lap-sitting child, it’ll be a pleasure.

A satisfying friendship story to share with very young children in the days leading up to Halloween. (Board book. 2-4)

Pub Date: July 30, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-338-31848-7

Page Count: 16

Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S POETRY | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

- BOOK REVIEW
TEENY TINY SANTA
by Rachel Matson ; illustrated by Joey Chou

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LOVEBLOCK

From the Block Books series

by Christopher Franceschelli ; illustrated by Peskimo ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 2020

Fun format; bland text.

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A hefty board book filled with ruminations on the nature of love.

While love is the topic of this board book, it’s the inventive gatefolds and charmingly vintage illustrations that readers will fall for. Brimming with sweeping declarations along the lines of “Love is / strong. // You have my back and I’ll always have yours,” the text sounds like a series of greeting cards strung together. It’s benign enough, but are most toddlers interested in generic proclamations about love? Some statements, like the ones on “unsinkable” hippos or a panda parent holding a cub “steady,” could introduce new vocabulary. At least there’s plenty of winsome critters to fawn over as the surprisingly sturdy flaps tell dramatic little ministories for each cartoon-style animal species. A downcast baby giraffe looks longingly up at a too-high tasty branch; lift a flap to bring an adult giraffe—and the delicacy—down to the baby, or watch an adventurous young fox retreat into a fold-down–flap burrow to learn that “my heart will always be home with you.” At points, the pages are tricky to turn in the correct order, but clever touches, like a series of folds that slow readers down to a sloth’s speed, make up for it. The book concludes with a gatefold revealing a vibrant playground populated with racially and ethnically diverse humans; two are wheelchair users.

Fun format; bland text. (Board book. 2-4)