I'm Not Sleepy - Hardcover

Cazet, Denys

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0531058980 ISBN 13: 9780531058985

Publisher: Orchard Books, 1992

Synopsis

Despite his best attempts, Father cannot get Alex to settle down and listen to him tell his story about sleepy Alex and his long and tiring journey

About this title

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 2 --Alex's father has a sure cure for insomnia. He embarks on a ``no-matter-how-wide-awake-you-are-I-can-make-you-sleepy'' story that takes a boy just like his son on a long, (hopefully) exhausting journey through a ``boily-boily jungle,'' up a ``pooa, pooa tree,'' to the moon and back. Alex interrupts on occasion, but dad never skips a beat. The thrilling adventure, complete with a breathless chase and a soothing flight through the heavens, should have provided ample fodder for sweet dreams. Alex snuggles down, yet despite repeated suggestions that he is getting ``very, very tired,'' he outlasts his fictional counterpart. The warm, loving relationship between father and son is clearly evident in the text and the soft realististic watercolors. The tropical scenes and nocturnal skyscapes are lush, rich, and completely nonthreatening. Even the toothy ``thingamajig'' is really harmless. The juxtaposition of the full-page, larger-than-life dream sequences with the framed bedroom scenes bordered by night sky are very effective. This is Cazet at his best; he has taken an age-old theme and given it fresh, humorous enchantment.
-Luann Toth, School Library Journal
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Father shapes a bedtime story to wakeful Alex's comments. He begins with a boy (pictured as Alex) walking in the jungle; but when the boy closes ``his weary eyes,'' Alex pops up: ``The boily, boily jungle made me thirsty.'' So it goes, until Father finally captures Alex's full attention with a trip to the moon, with the boy followed by a mild-looking but many-horned ``thingamajig.'' This time, when the boy makes his way back home to bed, Alex, too, is ready to call it a night. A jacket photo suggests that Father is the author's self-portrait, while Alex also bears a strong family resemblance. The improvised story is authentically haphazard; meanwhile, the book is a model of creative interplay between parent and child, a theme beautifully extended in the illustrations. The more formally bordered bedroom scenes include a toy dog that joins Alex in Father's story; the story-within-the story illustrations are imaginative, dreamlike. Like Angela Johnson's Tell Me a Story, Mama, an unusually perceptive portrayal of healthy interaction. (Picture book. 3-7) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Orchard Books
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0531058980
• ISBN 13: 9780531058985
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 29