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OLIVER WHO WOULD NOT SLEEP!

Name: OLIVER WHO WOULD NOT SLEEP!
Author: Mara Bergman
ISBN: 978-0-439-92826-7

by Mara Bergman & illustrated by Nick Maland ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2007

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A little boy who “couldn’t and didn’t and would not sleep” prefers to stay awake and play. Every night after Oliver Donnington Rimington-Sneep’s parents kiss him goodnight and turn off the light, he bounces out of bed. Oliver paints, draws, does magic, reads and races cars. He even blasts off in a rocket all the way to Mars, where he isn’t at all scared. But eventually Oliver soars back to his room where “all his cuddlies looked cozy and warm” and, after all that adventure, he’s finally ready to fall asleep. The soporifically rhythmic verse casts Oliver as the mini-hero of his real and fanciful bedtime adventures. Whimsically detailed watercolor and line illustrations lift Oliver from the intimacy of his bedroom into a boundless outer-space fantasy world where creatures bear a strong resemblance to Oliver’s stuffed “cuddlies” and the rocket ship looks a lot like Oliver’s toy space ship. A warm and fuzzy homage to Sendak’s Max and his wild things guaranteed to lull little ones into their own night-time adventures. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2007

ISBN: 978-0-439-92826-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Levine/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2007

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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THE TALL MAN AND THE SMALL MOUSE
by Mara Bergman ; illustrated by Birgitta Sif

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LIVELY ELIZABETH!
by Mara Bergman & illustrated by Cassia Thomas

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YUM YUM!
by Mara Bergman and illustrated by Nick Maland

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WHERE ARE YOUR SHOES, MR. BROWN?

by Justin Rhodes ; illustrated by Heather Dickinson ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 14, 2023

Pedestrian.

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Mr. Brown can’t help with farm chores because his shoes are missing—a common occurrence in his household and likely in many readers’ as well.

Children will be delighted that the titular Mr. Brown is in fact a child. After Mr. Brown looks in his closet and sorts through his other family members’ shoes with no luck, his father and his siblings help him search the farm. Eventually—after colorful pages that enable readers to spot footwear hiding—the family gives up on their hunt, and Mr. Brown asks to be carried around for the chores. He rides on his father’s shoulders as Papa gets his work done, as seen on a double-page spread of vignettes. The resolution is more of a lesson for the adult readers than for children, a saccharine moment where father and son express their joy that the missing shoes gave them the opportunity for togetherness—with advice for other parents to appreciate those fleeting moments themselves. Though the art is bright and cheerful, taking advantage of the setting, it occasionally is misaligned with the text (for example, the text states that Mr. Brown is wearing his favorite green shirt while the illustration is of a shirt with wide stripes of white and teal blue, which could confuse readers at the point where they’re trying to figure out which family member is Mr. Brown). The family is light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Pedestrian. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 14, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-5460-0389-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: WorthyKids/Ideals

Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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BUNNY MONEY

From the Max & Ruby series

by Rosemary Wells & illustrated by Rosemary Wells ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1997

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In the siblings' latest adventure, their grandmother is having a birthday (again! see Bunny Cakes, p. 67), so Ruby takes Max shopping. A music box with skating ballerinas is Ruby's idea of the perfect present; Max favors a set of plastic vampire teeth. Ruby's $15 goes fast, and somehow, most of it is spent on Max. The music box of Ruby's dreams costs $100, so she settles for musical earrings instead. There isn't even a dollar left for the bus, so Max digs out his lucky quarter and phones Grandma, who drives them home—happily wearing her new earrings and vampire teeth. As ever, Wells's sympathies are with the underdog: Max, in one-word sentences, out-maneuvers his officious sister once again. Most six- year-olds will be able to do the mental subtraction necessary to keep track of Ruby's money, and Wells helps by illustrating the wallet and its dwindling contents at the bottom of each page where a transaction occurs. Younger children may need to follow the author's suggestion and have an adult photocopy the ``bunny money'' on the endpapers, so they can count it out. Either way, the book is a great adjunct to primary-grade math lessons. (Picture book. 4-7)