Once upon a time, the end : asleep in 60 seconds / by Geoffrey Kloske and Barry Blitt.

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Title:

Once upon a time, the end : asleep in 60 seconds / by Geoffrey Kloske and Barry Blitt.

Author:

Kloske, Geoffrey

Blitt, Barry

ISBN:

9780689866197

Edition:

1st ed.

Publication Information:

New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2005.

Physical Description:

25 p. : col. ill.

General Note:

"An Anne Schwartz book."

Contents:

Once upon a time -- Chicken Little -- The two little pigs -- Small girl, red hood -- Goldilocks and the bears -- The little red hen -- But in that peaceful little house -- David and Goliath -- Sleeping Beauty -- Jack -- Hickory dickory dock -- John Jacob-- The old lady's shoe -- Hey diddle diddle -- Riddle one -- Riddle two -- And they all lived ....

Abstract:

A tired father takes only a few sentences to tell a number of classic tales in order to get the persistent listener to fall asleep.

Subject Term:

Bedtime -- Juvenile fiction.

Characters in literature -- Juvenile fiction.

Added Author:

Blitt, Barry

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Avon-Washington Township Public Library	Juvenile Picture Book Hardback	120791001782573	J P KLO	Searching... Unknown

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On Order

Summary

Once upon a time
there was a grown-up
looking for a book
with very short bedtime stories
for a kid who wouldn't go to sleep.
So the grown-up picked up this book
and read this flap
and took the book home
and read it out loud
and they both laughed
and fell fast asleep
fast.
Just like you.
The end.

Reviews (5)

School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 2-Here's a fresh approach to fractured fairy tales: take one small child's insatiable demand for "Just one more story" and add a sleepy parent's wish to get the bedtime ritual over with as quickly as possible. The result is this collection of eight condensed folktales. For example, "Goldilocks and the Bears" begins, "There were some bears;/It doesn't really matter how many./There was a bunch./Let's get to the point:" and ends, "When the bears came back,/They found her asleep./She woke up, screamed, and ran home/So she could sleep in her own bed./Just like you." A few nursery rhymes ("Hickory, dickory, dock,/A mouse ran up the clock./The clock struck eight./Oh, my, it's late!/So the mouse went straight to bed") and jokes round out the book. Blitt's ink-and-watercolor illustrations are amusing, with fine lines and soothing colors underscoring the comedy in the characters and situations. The cover shows an intensely alert toddler on the lap of a sleeping father, surrounded by several dozing characters (Goliath sucking his thumb, for example, and Red Riding Hood conked out next to the wolf dressed as Grandma). The sometimes sly, sometimes outrageous, sometimes simply silly humor will go over the heads of most preschoolers, but it's right on target for their older siblings (and tired parents, of course).-Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

Children revel in getting the upper hand on frustrated, exhausted adults. That's the concept behind this group of nearly a dozen desperately abbreviated bedtime stories (e.g., "The Two Little Pigs") and other not-so-subtly slumber-themed diversions (such as this riddle: "Why did the chicken cross the road? To go to sleep"). The stories are bracketed by visits to a boy's bedroom where a father, still dressed in work clothes, tries to satisfy his child's request for yet another story by "cutting/ Little words here and there/ So the stories would go faster,/ .../ And everyone could live happily every after./ The end." But the effect of this book will undoubtedly be far from soporific. Kids may well be reduced to giggling fits by the cumulative effect of newcomer Kloske's silly shorthand versions of old favorites. A minimalist, rhyming version of Red Riding Hood wraps up with the heroic woodsman saying, "Wow, I'm really tired, how about you?"; a familiar nursery rhyme about the old lady who lived in a shoe concludes, "When kids wouldn't go to bed,/ She sold them to the zoo." New Yorker cartoonist Blitt's watercolor-and-ink drawings exude a brittle sense of humor that's right in sync with the text's sad-sack perspective; at the same time, the artist's elegant ink line offers a visual foil to the storyteller's rising sense of hopelessness. But while the core joke here is on parents everywhere, chances are they'll be laughing too-after all, it's funny because it's true. Ages 4-8. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Horn Book Review

What happens when an exhausted dad cannot keep up with the demand for more stories from an imperious child? Dad ingeniously tries to tell abridged versions of well-known tales, such as the ""Two Little Pigs,"" throws in some rhymes, and manages to fall asleep with his kid. There's plenty of humor in both the text and the ink and watercolor illustrations. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

A very quick retelling of many nursery classics is the result when a tired father attempts to get his child to sleep faster by skipping a few words here and there. The Three Little Pigs suddenly become just two, while Little Red Riding Hood becomes a staccato poem: "Small girl / Red hood / Big wolf / In the woods." Hints from father to child abound, until most of the endings turn out to be slumber-related: "Is there a pea under your bed? Then what's your excuse? Go to bed." Making no headway, he shortens even further and steps up the hints--the old lady in the shoe sold her kids to the zoo when they wouldn't go to bed. Meanwhile, Blitt's illustrations must keep up with the furious pace. His simple watercolors in subdued colors manage to pack a lot of plot into a small space without seeming too busy. Readers leave the duo face down on the bed making Zzzz's, while books with their pages cut in half litter the room. Plenty of laughs for all those children who beg for "just one more story" before bed--and a great chuckle for their parents. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

K-Gr. 3.\b Is there a pea under your bed? / Then what's your excuse? / Go to bed. Reading at bedtime to his kid, who refuses to fall asleep, a desperate dad shortens the old stories, twists the nursery rhymes, and adds his own messages (Why are you still awake? ) in hilarious, short, fractured fairy tales and verse. On each spacious double-page spread, Blitt's cartoon-style, line-and-watercolor pictures are both beautiful and funny, whether depicting the mayhem of the Two Little Pigs or the cozy view of Dad surrounded by books, desperate to get his sweet kid to sleep so that everyone could live happily ever after. As the parent gets more exhausted, the stories get shorter, angrier, and wilder (when all those kids in the shoe won't go to bed, the old lady sells them to the zoo). The triumph of the child who refuses to bow to authority will appeal to preschoolers, and so will the loving bedtime scenes. Older elementary-school children who know the stories and can appreciate the parody will probably like this, too. --Hazel Rochman Copyright 2005 Booklist