Written and Illustrated by Marianne Richmond
Review by: Lauren
Copy from Publisher (Sourcebooks), but All Opinions are My Own
Review: Ralphie is a six year old boy who just doesn’t want to go to bed. I think we can all understand the dilemma. The book starts off with the following-
As much as his mom tries, Ralphie keeps coming up with excuses as to why he can’t go to bed from monsters in the closet to a bug under the rug! Each time Ralphie protests, his mom comes back with what she thinks he really needs and Ralphie always replies “I think I do.” This pattern continues with Ralphie and his mom giving each other gorilla hugs and caterpillar tickles after each new excuse for staying awake.
I found this to be a cute picture book. I liked how most of the story ryhmed and the bright, colorful pictures. The people are done pretty simply (as you can see from the cover photo) but all of the animals mentioned throughout are actually shown and seemed to be more intricately drawn, which I enjoyed.
Obviously, getting a child to go to sleep can be difficult sometimes, and I like the unique ways that Ralphie’s mom answers her son. It also gives them time to bond and laugh after a long day, before…yes, Ralphie falls asleep.
This isn’t exactly a baby shower type of book, as Ralphie is six, and it would hardly be used until a child is a bit older. I could see it going over well with certain three years old though, so I’d recommend the age range to be 3 or 4 on up.
I’m actually in a Children’s Lit class right now and next week we have to bring a contemporary, realistic picture book. I think I’ll bring this one along, because even though Ralphie and his mom are depicted as animals throughout, they aren’t actually these animals. I figured it would be a fun one to share with the class!
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