Putting the Monkeys to Bed

by Gennifer Choldenko, Jack E. Davis (Illustrator)

Overview

A hilarious story that shows kids that they can get themselves to sleep at bedtime! 

Sam is never ready to go to sleep at bedtime. There are always more questions to ask Mama, more books to read . . . not to mention the monkeys! Sam’s rambunctious trio of toy monkeys would much rather jump on the bed and make up songs about ping pong than go to sleep.

Eventually Sam wants to go to sleep. But how will he ever get the monkeys to settle down?

This story’s silly monkey mayhem also includes a calming bedtime routine that really works.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780698408555
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	06/09/2015
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	78 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Gennifer Choldenko is the New York Times bestselling and Newbery Honor Award-winning author of ten children's books, including Notes From a Liar and Her Dog, If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period, No Passengers Beyond this Point, Al Capone Does My Shirts, Al Capone Shines My Shoes, and Al Capone Does My Homework. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family.

Jack E. Davis was senior art director with a large ad agency before becoming a children's book illustrator.

Editorial Reviews

Busy cartoon art full of overstimulating detail vibrates with energy, allowing readers to absorb what it might feel like to be the freckle-faced, fuzzy-haired protagonist, whose ‘brain is buzzing’ . . . . A comical yet realistic look at bedtime for those who sometimes struggle with it.”—The Horn Book
 
“Choldenko’s story is funny. . . 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.”—School Library Journal

"Choldenko’s buzzy narration itself quiets as Sam uses breathing techniques and reads to the monkeys on his way to falling asleep—self-calming techniques that many readers may find helpful themselves.”—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2015-02-16
Those monkeys just don't want to sleep!Snuggled in bed with his three stuffed monkeys, Sam asks his mother if he would have to go to sleep if he were a monkey. In answer, she tucks him in after reading him his favorite book—but once she leaves, his stuffed monkeys come to life and want to jump around. "They smash and bash and crash-crash-crash until all balls have been bounced and all trains have been trounced." Mama warns him to get back in bed, and he does, but his mind teems with questions: "Do fish go to bed in their bathing suits?" Mama says she'll answer his questions in the morning. He tries his breathing exercises, but the monkeys turn it into a "ping-pong song" and "the French ding-dong song." Mind and monkeys still working overtime, Sam tricks the lively stuffed animals into listening to his book, and they all drift off. Choldenko's tale of bedtime bounciness reads like something a parent might make up on the spur of the moment to quiet a restless child. Imaginative, restless tots might recognize themselves in Sam, but their imaginations are probably a bit more original and outlandish than his. Even Davis' frenetic and funny watercolors can't mitigate the story's extemporaneous feel.With bedtime-story shelves bursting, this is one that can be set aside. (Picture book. 2-5)

Kirkus Reviews