Sleepy, the Goodnight Buddy

PreS-Gr 2--Young Roderick will do almost anything to delay going to bed, wearing down his poor parents with questions and requests. So they decide to buy him a goodnight buddy to assist him in falling asleep. However, this new buddy seems to do everything but help Roderick fall asleep! Will his parents' plan ultimately work or will there be many more sleepless nights ahead? This hilarious picture book from Daywalt, author of The Day the Crayons Quit, is sure to please children of all ages and tickle those who also find it difficult to go to bed. The familiar requests for a glass of water and just one more story will ring true with readers, but they will laugh out loud at what happens next in this tale. Roderick gets a taste of his own medicine, but it is cranked up to another level. His new little buddy is so pesky and adorable that kids will be wishing for one of their own. The text is comedic with the conversations between characters displayed in different colored speech bubbles, making it easy for kids to follow which character is saying what. Campbell's digitally enhanced watercolor paintings are large and perfectly illustrate the various emotions in the story. Especially expressive are the characters' eyes, which show a range of feeling from happy to sad, and from frustrated to just plain worn out. VERDICT A first purchase; a definite yes if one is looking for a laugh-out-loud read-aloud.--Amy Shepherd, St. Anne's Episcopal School, Middleton, DE

Top talents Daywalt (The Day the Crayons Quit) and Campbell (Hug Machine) take on the familiar story of the reluctant sleeper, and things escalate quickly. Presented with the eponymous stuffed toy by his exasperated parents, ace bedtime avoider Roderick "couldn't decide whether it looked more like a moose or more like a bear." While Sleepy may seem goofy at first glance, bedtime proves him to be an even more insistent and successful procrastinator than his new owner. Sleepy never blinks ("No matter where Roderick put him, he could still FEEL Sleepy looking at him"), he's incredibly touchy ("Well, I can't sleep even if you're a little mad"), and his annoying ruminations ("You ever wonder what it all means?") fill a cascade of dialogue balloons until the increasingly exhausted Roderick loses his temper--and the reader begins to wonder who, exactly, is trolling whom. As Roderick realizes he's met his match, Campbell's digitally enhanced watercolor vignettes model perfect comic pacing and a laugh-generating repertoire of character expressions for both the out-of-control Sleepy and his increasingly frustrated bedmate. Ages 3-5. (Sept.)