Bound To Stay Bound

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School Library Journal - 08/01/2013 PreS-K—Arnold knows he has nothing more to be afraid of at bedtime after the winged fargle, the horrible tooth gnasher, the grozny buzzler, and other monsters with their own fears crawl into his bed. These colorful figures lurk in the darkest corners of bedrooms, but, as Arnold discovers, the scary creatures have more in common with him than he could have imagined. Seeing these silly-looking beasties jumping at noises and hiding under the covers will help dispel any fears children may have about their own made-up critters. Arnold's playful imagination is evident in Schneider's watercolor, pen-and-ink, and colored pencil illustrations, and his bravery becomes obvious when he investigates the noises he hears in the night. Use this book for discussions about facing fears.—Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, AB, Canada - Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 10/15/2013 We meet Arnold as he is crashing through his toys—or, as he sees it, “destroying New York.” In a neat flourish, Schneider depicts Arnold’s imagination with blue outlines: his little-boy body is outlined by a Godzillalike beast, and those falling blocks are outlined by skyscrapers. The giddy destruction ends at bedtime, when from the closet crawls the “toe biter” that Arnold fears. But the purple, tusked goblin is just there to hide from the truly awful “tooth gnasher,” who shows up worried about the hideous “winged fargle.” You get the picture. Soon Arnold is sharing his too-small bed with an array of colorful, fretful monsters. It comes to a head when the “grozny buzzler” shows up, wondering if anyone has seen signs of the nefarious “Arnolds.” Says the buzzler, “I heard one destroyed New York.” Indeed, it’s a snappy way to drive home a good-natured lesson in incorrect assumptions. Schneider’s watercolor creatures are a darling array of beaked, winged, clawed, and blubbered goofballs, supporting the text with just the right brand of off-center quirk. - Copyright 2013 Booklist.

Bulletin for the Center... - 12/01/2013 Arnold’s too busy tromping down a city built from blocks and eating the heads of his animal crackers to go to bed, but when the light finally goes out, he’s terrified that the terrible toe biter will come out-and it does. However, it turns out that the toe biter is afraid of the tooth gnasher and climbs under the covers with Arnold. Arnold’s bed gets more and more crowded with more monsters scared of other monsters until one of them reveals that it’s afraid of the monstrous Arnolds, who destroy New York and bite the heads off of lions and elephants; then Arnold reveals his “secret” and frightens the whole gang away. Although monsters terrified of radiators that make glinking noises are a lot of silly fun, this story is a standard telling of a plot kids have likely heard before (even if they haven’t quite taken it to heart yet). The increasing goofiness of the monsters (the toe biter’s a big fanged purple guy who looks a bit like a boar on two legs, and the grozny buzzler’s a squat olive bird with wire-rimmed glasses and a fez) amp up the readaloud pleasure, but the ending’s reliance on distant details and sudden resolution causes it to fall flat. Schneider’s ink, watercolor, and colored pencil illustrations are distinctly outlined, which sometimes busies up the pages but also adds a cartoonish over-the-top-ness that matches the story’s tone, a tendency enhanced by the kid-friendly saturated palette and the use of blue outlines to show Arnold’s imagined worlds. The real show-stealers here are the monsters themselves, who are mildly frightening with their nasty teeth and horrible claws but hilarious in their worried expressions. Mayer’s There’s a Nightmare in My Closet is a standard measure for books of this type, but this might see some use as a complementary resource for youngsters who need a bit more encouragement to banish the bedtime boogeymen. TA - Copyright 2013 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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