Bedtime for Sweet Creatures

It is bedtime and the child in this story has only one thing to say: NOOOOOOOO! And over and over again NO NO NO NO like the beat of a drum. But Mom persists and the child asks “Who?” like a little owl pretending not to know. But Mom takes Bear and reminds the child Bear will feel lonely. So the child comes along. Once in bed, the child growls like a bear, but coils like a snake beneath the quilt, hissing about monsters. But Mom knows what to do and searches for monsters, declaring the bedroom a safe zone. More animals appear through the child, but Mom keeps on with the bedtime ritual, as does the child with a need for one more drink and one more trip to the bathroom. Will this ever end?

Told from the mother’s point of view, author Nikki Grimes has built a fun going-to-bed story that, unfortunately, ends up with the child in the parents’ bed — not the hoped-for outcome. There is also a non-participatory father in the book. Illustrations by Elizabeth Zunon are bright and truly imaginative and are the perfect complement for this story.