This is surely something every parent has heard whispered to them in the night. Every parent surely has handled it differently. I honestly wasn't as taken with this as I'd expected to be despite the lovely illustrations and dreamy colors. First, an admission. I really, really wanted to just give good ol' Dad a shove off that bed for both his lack of helpfulness, leaving it all to Mom to handle, and my jealousy of him being able to fall back asleep in practically the blink of an eye. Even the mother, while relatively patient, didn't seem to put much effort into how she handled the situation.
If anything, while it's easy to give her a break for probably being exhausted and wanting desperately to sleep herself, she didn't seem to offer any soothing words or suggestions other than go back to bed. Dad continued to sleep through most of the interruptions, mind you, only going into action when a storm struck and the dogs' barking joined the pleas of the frightened children. They're adorable, by the way, and there are even a pair of twins. In any case, Dad's solution was to simply grab a blanket and pillow and move to the couch, in essence leaving Mom to deal with the children in the now roomier space of the bed. Can you tell I was disappointed by both?
Bottom line, while I'm sure this could open a conversation between children and parents of how the situation could have been better handled, I didn't really enjoy the story. The rhyming text was relatively well done, however, and, as noted, the illustrations had a bit of a dreamy feel to most of them with the night colors and subtle soft hues. And, much as I hate to admit it, the situation is probably rather realistic. Children get frightened or even bored at night frequently and seek the comfort of their parents. I just wish there had been more of a gentle, positive handling of the situation, albeit, as noted, I can see this being used as a means to open a dialogue between not just parents and children but between the parents. Thanks #HolzerBooks for giving me this early peek at the book and life in many homes with small, restless children.
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