Review by Booklist Review
What stories do monster parents read to their little monsters at bedtime? In this case, a large, nonthreatening dad monster shares a book with his angelic young one about the bedtime routines of a lengthy list of monster children. Showcasing Bigfoot, aliens, dragons, Frankenstein's monster, Yeti, a troll, the Loch Ness Monster, and a giant, this has the potential to frighten rather than soothe, but a playful tone and adorable monsters will help ease active young viewers. To keep the large cast of mostly oversize creatures from crowding the pages, the crisp, clean, brightly colored gouache artwork features each in his or her own environment on a double-page spread or more in the large-size book. Figures remain front and center, although backgrounds include plenty of supporting detail spaceships, laboratories, pastoral scenes, etc. The text features rhymed triplets that all end with a similar refrain (Even blank need to sleep), and they ooze with the coziness and warmth that even monsters want at bedtimes. A worthy addition to the large canon of monster bedtime books.--Enos, Randall Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Cuddly, carefully painted monsters of every stripe are comforted by reliable nighttime rituals in this frisky but soothing bedtime story. "When Bigfoot goes to bed each night,/ he hugs his wooby extra tight/ and leaves on just a little light./ Even Bigfoot needs to sleep," begins Wheeler (The Christmas Boot). A big, brown furball, Bigfoot wears a red union suit, clutches his wooby (a blue bunny), and nabs a firefly in a jar for a nightlight before bedding down in a tree. Subsequent spreads feature aliens in footie pajamas, a braces-wearing dragon who can't stop chattering, and a troll whose "big-boy bed is by a brook,/ tucked inside a comfy nook./ Nanny reads his favorite book" (it's The Three Billy Goats Gruff, of course), among other creatures. Van Dusen (President Taft Is Stuck in the Bath) imagines a frame for the story, too, as a blue monster child holds her two-headed doll while her father reads to her then checks for children under the bed. The book is sure to do the trick at bedtime, and it's gentle enough even for readers who find monsters intimidating. Ages 4-8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Rhyming text and detailed, fantastic art invite readers to follow along with little monster's bedtime reading.The bedtime routine begins on wraparound jacket art that shows a little blue monster clad in a pink nightgown running away to the right on the front cover from her father, who pursues her from the back cover. In the frontmatter pages she first runs away toward the page turn on the title page and then is dragged, crying, into the book proper from the recto dedication page. The first page of the book proper shows her now calm and cuddled up in bed with her dad reading a book. Ensuing pages appear to be from the book they're reading as they depict a series of fantastic creatures heading off to bed. The verse is usually written as three rhyming lines, with a fourth line breaking the rhyme and reading "Even Bigfoot needs to sleep" but substituting the word "Bigfoot" with "dragons" or "bridge trolls" or "giants" and so on. The gouache illustrations employ a saturated, vivid palette that isn't at all restful in busy compositions filled with detail (three-legged ET's in union suits; Frankenstein's playful kitten). But moments like the spare, wordless final page or the spreads depicting a Yeti and a giant help give rest for the eyes. Even if it doesn't send kids straight off to dreamland, it will keep them looking; snuggled close with a grown-up, that's not all bad. (Picture book. 2-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
