My Tail's Not Tired! by Jana Novotny Hunter and Paula Bowles
| My Tail's Not Tired! by Jana Novotny Hunter and Paula Bowles | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Ruth Ng
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| Summary: Small children are adept at finding one more thing that they absolutely must do before they go to bed, and this little monster is certainly full of energy right up to the very last moment! | |
| Buy? yes | Borrow? yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: January 2017 |
| Publisher: Child's Play (International) Ltd | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781846439865 | |
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Little Monster is supposed to be going to bed, but how can he, when his knees are still bouncy and his arms still need to fly and his bottom has lots of jiggling and wiggling left to do?! As Big Monster groans and sighs, Little Monster's energy seems to have no end. But will Little Monster finally wear himself out and end up in bed?
A large number of grown ups will identify with Big Monster in this story. I found myself tired even just reading it as it brought back many difficult memories of toddler bedtimes in which my children always seemed to manage to find just one more thing that they absolutely had to do immediately after I told them it was bedtime! Little Monster doesn't have tasks that need doing, however, he has jiggles, and wiggles, and roars that need roaring! His whole body is absolutely and completely wide awake! And so he needs to bounce his bouncy knees, and wiggle his bottom and roar very loudly, and spring up to scare Big Monster in a surprise jump! (Poor Big Monster!)
This is a fun and lively book, though you'll be pleased to hear that Little Monster does wind down in the end, so you can finish reading on a nice sleepy, tucked up in bed note (and hopefully they will stay there!) The text is enjoyable to read, with all that activity going on. I'm sure lots of little ones will jump up to demonstrate their own wiggles and jiggles, hopefully completing the final wearing-out of the day! Little Monster did remind me of my own little boy, who never seems to be tired right up until that final moment when his head touches the pillow. I liked all the declarations of which bit of Little Monster isn't yet tired, and I particularly enjoyed the roaring page where Big Monster pretends to be scared, and Little Monster is quick to reassure it's only me! Just your little monster!
The illustrations sit perfectly alongside the text, and the monsters have a raggedy sort of Muppet feel to them. The pictures are fun, with lots of movement and they capture a small (and very awake!) monster very well. The final picture, of Big Monster and Little Monster cuddled up in bed together is very sweet.
Big Monster certainly has a lot more patience than me, and endures the endless dancing activities with gentleness and humour whilst I know I'd have been shouting and naughty-spotting! Still, I enjoyed poor Big Monster's battered expressions of complete exhaustion...the look on Big Monster's face is instantly recognisable as someone who just wants to sink into the sofa and maybe have a small gin and tonic to recover from the day! If you can manage to stifle your own yawns of exhaustion this is a fun bedtime story that will hopefully lead to your little ones yawning along too, getting them into a sleepy mood, ready to drop off!
Further reading suggestion: Another wonderful story about delaying bedtime is Sleepy or Not, Mr Croc? by Jo Lodge and you might also like to take a look at Oliver Who Would Not Sleep by Mara Bergman and Nick Maland.
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You can read more book reviews or buy My Tail's Not Tired! by Jana Novotny Hunter and Paula Bowles at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy My Tail's Not Tired! by Jana Novotny Hunter and Paula Bowles at Amazon.com.
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