Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 1-2. Seuss and Stevenson combine their considerable talents and abilities to reach children in a rhyming story that is full of laughs. ``The alarm can ring. The birds can peep. My bed is warm. My pillow's deep. Today's the day I'm going to sleep'' says a lazy boy one morning, and despite a pail of icy water, an offer of a strawberry flip, television coverage, and the arrival of the United States Marines, he vows to stay in bed and he does! The repetition of concept and words and the ease of the beat will keep children turning the pages as will Stevenson's energetic drawings. Washed in color, the artwork enlivens the story; together they trigger a natural momentum. BE. Sleep Fiction / Beds Fiction / Humorous stories / Stories in rhyme [CIP] 87-11466
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Part of the Beginner Books series, this light piece of whimsy is narrated by a boy in striped pajamas who, with closed eyes, proclaims that under no circumstances will he be getting out of bed and going anywhere. ``I don't choose to be up walking. I don't choose to be up talking. The only thing I'm choosing is to lie here woozy-snoozing.'' The Marines can't raise him, nor can a big brass band. In this everychild's fantasy, the boy takes charge of his own destiny on this particular morning. Stevenson shows the surrounding madcap lunacy, as well as the neat, sublime smile of the narrator recounting his plans. Easygoing and funny fare, not only for beginning readers. Ages 5-8. (October) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3 There is no arguing the rich con tributions and enduring popularity of both Dr. Seuss and James Stevenson in the world of children's literature. Despite (or, perhaps, because of) their individual cre dentials, I Am Not Going to Get Up Today is a disappointment. The story of a little boy who refuses to get out of bed holds promise, but Dr. Seuss' rhymes are un even and forced, lacking the natural ca dence and choice of terms so necessary for the success of a beginning reader for mat. Stevenson's identifiable watercolor and ink illustrations are loose and fluid but border on messy. There is not a positive meshing of text and illustration in this book; readers never get the feeling that they belong together. All factors combine to make this book less than satisfying. Laura McCutcheon, St. Catherine's School, Richmond, Va. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
After an eight-year interval, a Beginner Book by this well-loved originator of the series is welcome; and since Seuss hasn't chosen to illustrate it himself, we are lucky to have Stevenson as alternate. In the familiar Seuss pattern of a simple premise exaggerated to comic effect, a boy declares, ""My bed is warm. My pillow's deep. Today's the day I'm going to sleep""--regardless of his mother, various arguments, successive waves of reinforcements, including the Marines, and a TV crew filming the momentous event. Actually, the development of the idea is a little tame compared with Seuss' other extravaganzas (and such determined all-day slumber is more the province of teen-agers and the good doctor's contemporaries than of readers at this level); but the book is delightfully enlivened by Stevenson's vigorous illustrations, which considerably augment the text by showing the full extent of the consternation caused by the hero's stubborness. Though there is plenty of the repetition required by learning readers, there are also some unusual words like Memphis, suggesting that this is not the easiest easy reader; but it has enough appeal to keep beginners entertained. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
