  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 06/01/2015 PreS-Gr 2—Sam is a curious boy, whose mother has tucked him in for the night, yet he can't help but wonder about how and where other people and creatures sleep. As he yells for his mother to ask more questions, his toy monkeys come to life and cause a ruckus. Sam tries his best to quiet his mind and go to sleep, even doing some breathing exercises. Yet, it is only when he pulls out a bedtime story that he is able to calm himself and the monkeys and drift off to slumber. Choldenko's story is funny, if at times potentially confusing, though perfectly capturing Sam's wandering mind. The illustrations are fun, with bold movement lines indicating a chaotic and hectic bedtime frenzy, and monkeys that just won't quit. The speech bubbles between Sam and his mother come in big, comic book-style bursts, adding humor. VERDICT This lovely story about the power of books to help calm and focus would make a fun bedtime story for lots of families.—Kaitlin Connors, Virginia Beach Public Library - Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Bulletin for the Center... - 09/01/2015 “Sam’s not ready to go to bed, and neither are his monkeys.” Despite Mama’s insistence that Sam settle down for the night, he’d much rather “smash and bash and crash-crash-crash” with his trio of toy monkeys, who, when Mama is out of sight, are as active as Sam himself. Inevitably, a second parental warning comes; Sam begins to calm down, but this time his mind is in overdrive, thinking of all kinds of questions he has for his mother. After she promises to answer them the next day (a clever closing author’s note provides the answers for interested listeners), he really does begins to settle; unfortunately, the monkeys are raring to go, and now Sam is the quieter rather than the quietee, going through a series of silly songs, recitations, and a book before the monkeys settle. Familiar bedtime themes woven into this tale call to mind the simian antics of Christelow’s Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed and the energetic-turned-exhausted narrator in Rathmann’s 10 Minutes Till Bedtime (BCCB 12/98). The narration is a little long, but it offers a pleasing progression through the stages of bedtime towards eventual slumber, and there’s a frisky tone to the text (“They jump and bump and hop-hop-hop”) that makes for enjoyable reading aloud as well as listening. The playful ink and watercolor illustrations are reminiscent of David Catrow in their exaggerated lines and deliberately intense colors, and the freckle-faced, red-headed protagonist is at home in the slightly chaotic spreads. Little ones full of their own bedtime excuses will take a shine to Sam’s primate-intensive shift towards slumber. HM - Copyright 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Loading...
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