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Bedtime for Sweet Creatures

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Bedtime for Sweet Creatures

eBook(NOOK Kids)

$5.99

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eBook(NOOK Kids)
$5.99

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Overview

Barnes & Noble Best Book of the Year

Kirkus Best Book of the Year

Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year

4 STARRED REVIEWS

Nikki Grimes, Coretta Scott King Award winning author, and acclaimed illustrator Elizabeth Zunon's latest children's masterpiece creates an imagination-fueled and animal-filled journey to bedtime.

"Has the feel of an all-time great bedtime picture book" — The New York Times

It's bedtime. But Mommy's little one is not sleepy.

He growls like a bear, he questions like an owl, he tosses his mane like a lion. He hunts for water like a sly wolf, and hides like a snake.

Mommy needs to wrangle her sweet creature in bed so that the whole family can sleep. From tigers to squirrels to snakes, the little boy dodges around his bedtime, until he is tired enough to finally sleep. His imaginative animal friends weave their way through the illustrations, eventually joining him in curling up for the night.

For those seeking children's books about diversity, this loving depiction of everyday shenanigans is sure to become a bedtime favorite. Bedtime for Sweet Creatures is an African American children's book that celebrates imagination, playful moments, and the love between a Black mother and child.

"The mother's loving understanding is demonstrated by how she works with her child's rich imagination, never slipping into admonishment. As such, children will engage with the pajama-clad tot's antics and be soothed by the book's positive tone. A fabulous interpretation of an everyday battle."—Booklist, STARRED review

Product Details
About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781492638339
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	01/14/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
Lexile:	AD460L (what's this?)
File size:	14 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

New York Times bestselling author Nikki Grimes is the recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award, the 2017 Children's Literature Legacy Award, the 2016 Virginia Hamilton Literary Award, and the 2006 NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children, among many others. Ms. Grimes lives in Corona, California. Find her at nikkigrimes.com.

Elizabeth Zunon grew up in West Africa and now lives Albany, NY where she draws, paints, collages, sews, silkscreens, makes jewelry, and ponders the endless possibilities of chocolate. Her work is largely influenced by the people, places, and things from her childhood in the Ivory Coast as the product of two cultures. Visit her at lizzunon.com.

From the B&N Reads Blog

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Editorial Reviews

Grimes and Zunon capture the time-for-bed dance with verve, imagination and empathy…With its refreshing ending…this one has the feel of an all-time great bedtime picture book.

The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo

★ 09/23/2019
“No! No! No!” begins Grimes’s rhythmic, playful romp through a restless child’s bedtime routine. As the toddler resists sleep, a mother patiently creates an imaginary menagerie via vivid similes—“Your eyes swell, wide as owls... You coil beneath the quilt, silent as a snake”—transforming a bedroom into a forest full of friendly creatures. Zunon’s expressive, heavily textured collage is interspersed with abstract animals (evocative of Senufo textile art), clearly delineating imagined from real. Despite the mother’s best efforts at trumpeting away any monsters and checking under the bed before reading the child a story, the child appears at the parents’ bedside in the late night hours, pleading, “Mommy, can I sleep with you?” As she opens the covers for the tot to join, the parade of gentle beasts joins, helping to lull the now “very sleepy child” into slumber—and turning the visually pleasing adventure into a loving, effective lullaby. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"Grimes and Zunon capture the time-for-bed dance with verve, imagination and empathy in this tale of a not-sleepy child and her creative appeals to stay up longer... On each lovely page, Zunon collages realistic images of the family alongside fanciful, mythical-looking animals. With its refreshing ending — the girl ends up in her parents’ bed, as so many children do — this one has the feel of an all-time great bedtime picture book." — The New York Times

"vivid and appealing" — The Wall Street Journal

"Lots of rich imagery plus brightly colored collage illustrations make this a wonderful choice to read to children at bedtime, rich with family, imagination, and love." — Imagination Soup

"[A] rhythmic, playful romp through a restless child’s bedtime routine... a loving, effective lullaby." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"An adorable and imaginative bedtime story to add to collections for young children...children will engage with the pajama-clad tot’s antics and be soothed by the book’s positive tone. A fabulous interpretation of an everyday battle." — Booklist (starred review)

"A patient mother with a healthy sense of whimsy helps prepare her headstrong toddler for bed... Zunon's art takes this book to the next level: Her portrayals of the animals mentioned in the text are colorful and full of intriguing patterns and shapes. An adventurous treat of a bedtime story." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Lushly illustrated…A clever bedtime tale for stubborn, active twenty-first-century kids." — Hornbook

"Exceptionally well-done… highly recommended." — School Library Journal (starred review)

From the Publisher

★ 12/01/2019
PreS-K—In this exceptionally well-done title, readers follow a young child on a before-bed adventure. The book opens with a toddler shouting "No! No! No!" It continues, "You beat the word like a drum the minute I say, 'Come, sweet creature. It's bedtime.'" The gorgeous illustrations are from the child's perspective. For example, when the child answers their mother, the lyrical text says their eyes get big as an owl's. On the opposite page and part of the adjacent page are three large yellow-and-orange owls. Other items encountered on this bedtime routine are a large green, blue, and yellow bear; a forest scene; a snake; a giant pink-and-orange lion in bed; a blue-and-green fawn; a green-and-pink squirrel; and more. The words and the art are perfectly matched: when getting tucked in, the child, who is beside the large imaginary colorful lion, tells her mom to check underneath the bed for something vicious. Mom says, "I kneel on the forest floor, find something wild and ferocious." Underneath the bed is a small gray-and-white kitty. The text reads, "Meow." The illustrations and execution of this title give it a fresh approach to a subject that resonates with families raising small children. VERDICT Highly recommended for public and school libraries. The creative illustrations will appeal to parents who struggle with keeping children in bed at night. This is also an excellent choice for a bedtime storytime or other programs.—Robin Sofge, Prince William Public Library System, VA

School Library Journal

★ 2019-09-15
A patient mother with a healthy sense of whimsy helps prepare her headstrong toddler for bed.
The story opens with a toddler, fists raised into the air, proclaiming, "No! No! No!" Thank goodness this not-at-the-moment-sweet creature's mother is patient and creative as she corrals her child into a bedtime routine that may feel familiar to many readers. The words and behaviors of the child evading bed are translated into animal sounds and behaviors: wide-eyed and asking "Who? Who?" like an owl; shaking hair and roaring like a lion; hanging on for a hug like a koala. And, of course, the requisite leaving bed for a last trip to the bathroom and drink, like a human child. Zunon's art takes this book to the next level: Her portrayals of the animals mentioned in the text are colorful and full of intriguing patterns and shapes. Additionally, the expressions on the faces of the mother, child, and animals speak volumes, portraying the emotions of each. Arguably, the sweetest part of the story comes at the end, when the child asks to sleep with Mommy and Dad. Though the mother sighs, the child climbs in, along with "owl, bear, snake, kitty, fawn, squirrel, koala, tiger, wolf." (Readers attuned to details will notice the father's look of delight at the parade of animals.) All characters are black.
An adventurous treat of a bedtime story. (Picture book. 2-5)

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