This Is Not A Bedtime Story by Will Mabbitt and Fred Blunt
Anyone who has read the same story over and over again to their child will have felt the crushing feeling of mundanity. It's very tempting to hide that bland, but popular, book and explain to your child that it must be lost. The adult may feel like this, but once a child gets a little older, they too may feel the same. Why not interject a little more action into a tired story and make it anew?
| This Is Not A Bedtime Story by Will Mabbitt and Fred Blunt | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Sam Tyler
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| Summary: Sophie does not want another bedtime story so she decides to add spice to her usual night time tale, much to her Father's chagrin. Join in them in this hectic and fast paced book that explores the power and chaos of imagination. | |
| Buy? Maybe | Borrow? Maybe |
| Pages: 32 | Date: March 2016 |
| Publisher: Puffin | |
| ISBN: 9780141357386 | |
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When Dad settles down to read Sophie a bedtime story it appears that it is going to be the same old one about cats and picnics, but Sophie has other ideas. Rather than allowing Papa to drone on, she interjects her own ideas into the story which include snazzy sports cars and giant robots. No way is she going to listen to a bedtime story, she wants an action tale!
This Is Not A Bedtime Story is a somewhat complicated book to read as it is a Meta tale, but one told within the book. Children's stories will often talk directly to the reader and get you and your child involved, but here it is Sophie and her Father who are getting involved in the story they are reading. Therefore, you are reading about the alterations of a book, within a book.
What does this mean? Basically, it is a book about the power of imagination and how by making something up you can build on an old story. For an adult used to making up stories on the spot, a little chaos in a yarn is a good thing, but can that work in an actual printed book? Sophie's imagination goes off in seemingly random tangents meaning that the book does not really have a true structure – author Mabbitt could essentially have written anything as imagination is limitless. This is a great lesson for children, but in terms of a story, it is all a little messy.
Illustrator Blunt does his best to keep up with Mabbitt's scattergun story and ably draws images that capture not only a Father and daughter in a bedroom, but also the original story of a cute kitten and the changes made by Sophie. The pages are packed with fun imagery and older toddlers will enjoy working out which parts are reality, which are the old story and which are the new.
Not a Bedtime Story is perhaps best suited for the more high energy child who does not like to conform. They will appreciate Sophie's unwillingness to do the same old thing and the parent will fell a kinship with the exasperated Father in the book. However, other children who like to actually know what is going on may find the book a little too confusing. The book feels more like 32 pages of playtime than a story. There is no real rhyme or reason to what is going on. It feels that Mabbitt could have put almost anything in the middle 20 pages and it would make no difference to the book.
Breaking the fourth wall between reader and book is popular in children's fiction and can work well; Nibbles: The Book Monster by Emma Yarlett, or not so well; Battle Bunny by Jon Scieszka, Mac Barnett and Matthew Myers
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You can read more book reviews or buy This Is Not A Bedtime Story by Will Mabbitt and Fred Blunt 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 This Is Not A Bedtime Story by Will Mabbitt and Fred Blunt at Amazon.com.
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