Monster needs his sleep

PreS-K-In this second installment of the series, the vibrant palette and illustration style reminiscent of Saturday morning cartoons continues to appeal. The monster is Sendakian in spirit, but slicker, more lively, less pensive. It is a typical role reversal set-up: the little boy is parent to Monster, and he tries to get him to sleep, while Monster cooks up a multitude of ideas to avoid doing just that. Might he be scared of the dark? On each dynamic page, readers will find lots of verve, action, and energy, with saturated colors and deep purples, as it gets later and later. Most of the action takes place in Monster's bedroom, decorated with boy-themed paraphernalia: robots, rockets, marine animals, and pirates. The verse gets a bit pedantic: "Monster, here's some water/Now please stop procrastinating/It's time to close your eyes and sleep/No more negotiating." The colorful computer-rendered illustrations are extremely appealing to today's media-saturated kids. Nevertheless, it falls short of being a game changer. Amanda Noll's I Need My Monster (Flashlight, 2009) and Lauren Child's I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed (Candlewick, 2001) have similar themes.-Sara Lissa Paulson, The American Sign Language and English Lower School, New York City (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Monster needs to get his sleep, it's time to go to bed. But when I said it's sleepy time, he wants to play instead. ... Monster needs to get his sleep, it's time to go to bed. But when I said it's sleepy time, he wants to play instead. ... Excerpted from Monster Needs His Sleep by Paul Czajak All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.