Review by New York Times Review
It's bad enough for tiny humans. For the proud young animals of the savanna, the concept of nap time is downright insulting. "Naps are for little babies," according to a strapping crocodile; the giraffe declares herself "too tall," the monkey "too busy." De Moüy, who fills her bold, black-outlined gouache illustrations with great character, cleverly turns the tables on her readers, introducing a little girl - a former reluctant napper herself? - who outwits the beasts with the old "just close one eye" trick. A BED FOR KITTY Written and illustrated by Yasmine Surovec. 31 pp. Roaring Brook. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 2 to 5) With comic-style art in an offbeat palette heavy on shades of olive and peach, Surovec plays for laughs the mysterious phenomenon of chüdren who will sleep anywhere but in their own beds. Little Chloe gives her pet a new cat bed for a present, but Kitty prefers to snooze in Dad's old slippers, the sock drawer, even the sink. The solution will ring true to many a parent currently nursing a sore neck: It turns out Kitty's fine with the bed as long as Chloe's squeezed into it, too. GOODNIGHT ALREADY! By Jory John. Illustrated by Benji Davies. 32 pp. Harper/ HarperCollins. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 2 to 6) An exhausted bear on the way to bed - "I could sleep for weeks. Months, even!" - must fend off the incursions of his chatty, bored, coffee-drinking duck friend in this witty take on trouble in the sleep department. Davies's spot-on illustrations are both whimsical and tender, adding a feeling of intimacy to John's humor: Bear's got baggy eyes, rumpled fur and a purple mini-kimono; Duck is the essence of neediness disguised as jauntiness as he gesticulates wildly with fingerlike wings. MAX AND THE WON'T GO TO BED SHOW By Mark Sperring. Illustrated by Sarah Warburton. 32 pp. Scholastic. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 7) With his floppy black hair, adorable crescent-moon pajamas and wide-open eyes, Max, "the world's youngest magician," is perfectly cast in the charm-your-way-out-of-bedtime show. Warburton's exuberant illustrations are a good match for Sperring's lively, David Shannonesque narration of Max's feats of sleep procrastination, such as "the great disappearing boy trick" and a daring request for "10 - yes, 10" bedtime stories. (Mom goes with two, we learn.) WHILE YOU WERE NAPPING By Jenny Off ill. Illustrated by Barry Blitt. 32 pp. Schwartz & Wade. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) The combination of Offill and Blitt - two brilliantly astringent, deadpan sensibilities - makes "While You Were Napping" a rare, mischievous treat that may make grown-ups laugh hardest. Faking sympathy, our narrator tells her younger brother, who's been forced into a nap, about the "giant party" he's missed. Every page brings a cruel new revelation: All the other kids drove bulldozers, hauled dirtballs, set off fireworks, hung out with pirates and zoomed to the moon with astronauts. ONLINE A slide show of this week's illustrated books at nytimes.com/books.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [December 14, 2014]
Review by Booklist Review
Poor Bear. All he wants to do is go to sleep. But his neighbor Duck is wide awake and wants company. Will Bear play cards? Read stories? Make smoothies? Be sympathetic to a stubbed beak? Bear and Duck play out a back-and-forth scenario of approach and rebuff, until the tables are turned: Duck falls asleep but Bear is now wide awake. The story is reliant on the visual cues of Davies' comic illustrations, so that the exchange between the characters is funny rather than intolerable. Duck is so small compared to Bear, yet his larger-than-life (and possibly caffeine-induced?) energy overwhelms his much larger neighbor. Bear becomes more and more irritable with each interruption from Duck, yet maintains a strained cuddliness he is always holding his teensy bedtime bunny in his massive paw. (Eagle-eyed readers will notice that the bunny is a silent participant in the action, often reflecting Bear's feelings.) While not a typical bedtime battle of wills, parents and kids will recognize the power struggle between Duck and Bear and pick sides accordingly.--Dean, Kara Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
John (All My Friends Are Dead) and Davies (The Storm Whale) bring fresh humor to a familiar scenario, tracing the push and pull between a character desperate to get some shut-eye and one who is far from ready for bed. Here, the sleepy party is Bear, who has just tucked into bed (along with his tiny stuffed pink rabbit) when the doorbell rings. Barging in is his friend and neighbor, Duck, who's "never been so awake" and is determined to have fun with Bear-any kind of fun ("Make smoothies?" "No." Start a band?" "No"). Both the repartee and the sight gags display excellent timing, making the most of the classic comic tension between a hulking grouch and a diminutive pest. But this is also a physically lovely book: working in a distilled style reminiscent of classic UPA animation, Davies uses nocturnal blues, geometric patterning, and contrasting scale in a way that makes every page pop. The one thing readers will not say about this book is "Enough already!" Ages 4-8. Author's agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. Illustrator's agency, the Bright Agency. (Dec.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-In this familiar-sounding story, an exhausted animal tries to sleep as his overly friendly neighbor pays him repeated visits. Late one night, Duck is bored and decides Bear will entertain him, but grumpy Bear rejects his suggestions to watch movies and make smoothies, sending the bird home with a "Goodnight already." Duck turns up twice more to interrupt his neighbor's sleep and is dismissed by an increasingly irate Bear, who, in the end, is left wide awake, while Duck falls fast asleep next door. The premise of this story is not very original, and even the ending won't be a surprise. Bear comes across as a grouchy curmudgeon, while Duck is oblivious and annoying, and their dialogue is stilted. The illustrations, however, are charming, with solid color backgrounds highlighting moods, yellow for Duck and blue-gray for Bear, as well as the characters themselves, who stand out against the saturated backdrops. Little details add color to each page, from Bear's pink stuffed animal to Duck's red electric guitar. For libraries that have Bonny Becker's A Visitor for Bear (2012) and A Bedtime for Bear (2010, both Candlewick), this may not be a first purchase, but the fresh, funny art makes it a worthy consideration.-Marian McLeod, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Greenwich, CT (c) Copyright 2014. 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 Horn Book Review
Bear is just trying to get some sleep, but his persistent, sleepless neighbor, Duck, is having none of it ("I'm bored!...Wanna play cards?....Watch a movie?...Start a band?"). Although Mo Willems's Pigeon is the posturing Duck's obvious antecedent, this story--complete with switching-places ending and quite funny illustrations of wisenheimer Duck and his aggrieved victim--succeeds on its own wacky merits. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Animals with differing internal rhythms find it challenging to be neighbors in this nocturnal tale. Duck is full of energy; sitting in his brightly lit, yellow kitchen, he sips coffee while perusing 101 Ways to Stay Awake. Bear, by contrast, stands sleepily at the base of the staircase in his dimly lit living room, stuffed rabbit dangling from one massive paw. Just after Bear climbs the steps and settles in, Duck raps on the door, wide awake. "Wanna play cards?Watch a movie?Start a band?Make smoothies?" To each suggestion, Bear simply says "No." This pattern plays out three times, each episode ending with one or the other voicing the titular refrain until the beleaguered bear is finally wide awake, and the duck drifts off. The relationship between a lumbering, grumpy character and a frenetic extrovert will be familiar to grown-up fans of cartoons, and Duck's ludicrous behavior and costumes will no doubt elicit giggles from young listeners. Davies brings an animator's sensibility to his uncluttered compositions; variation in page color and typeface as well as skillful manipulation of facial features signal emotional states. The texture of the hairy bear and the occasional patterns on the floor and bedspread add interest to the flat backgrounds. That's all, though, folks. With its one-joke plot and dramatic potential, it's better suited to school and library use than repeat readings in a lap at home. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
