Go To Bed, Monster!

Wing, Natasha. 2007. Go To Bed, Monster!

I loved, loved, loved this one. I did. Consider it the playfulness of Wing's text alongside the fabulous illustrations. The book opens with Lucy, our girl heroine, not wanting to go to bed. (Familiar premise isn't it?) One night, Lucy tossed and turned. She could not, would not, did not want to go to bed. Lucy wants to draw. And she is a mighty imaginative artist as we soon find out. What Lucy draws come to life. (Think Harold & The Purple Crayon). What she draws are "an oval body. A square head. Rectangle legs. And circle eyes." But she's not done yet. What her drawing needs to be complete are triangles--small triangles--that turn these shapes into one yellow-green (or green-yellow) monster! The first thing the monster says is "Roar!" But Lucy is SO not afraid of her own creation. "You don't scare me," said Lucy. "Let's play!" So the two play together. They do many fun things--fun activities--together. I won't list them all. That might spoil the fun. But eventually, Lucy begins to get tired. She then has the monumental task of putting a monster to bed. The monster wants many things--has many excuses--that will be familiar to young children. The book is fun, playful, and just a joy to read. The day I got it, I must have read it five or six times.