Good Knight - Hardcover

Rymill, Linda

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 080504129X ISBN 13: 9780805041293

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 1998

Synopsis

Written in jaunty rhyme, this whimsical text captures the all-too-familiar struggle that ensues when little ones are getting ready for bed. Any excuse will do to avoid taking a bath, putting on pajamas, or having the lights turned out. But Mama is ever present, steering her young adventurer toward bed. And in the end, with the moon rising in the sky, there's always time for just one more story.

This is a rollickingly funny story, with art to match. Using gouache, acrylic, and pencil, Brian Karas portrays scenes that will instantly be recognized by parents, caregivers, and their own wide-awake "good knights." This bedtime story tells it like it really is.

About this title

About the Author

Linda Rymill and her husband own a sailboat shop in Rochester, Michigan. This is Ms. Rymill's first picture book.

G. Brian Karas is the illustrator of several books for children, including My Crayons Talk by Patricia Hubbard. Mr. Karas lives in Rhinebeck, New York, with his wife and two sons.

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 2?A sneakily lulling poem for endlessly imaginative and energetic children who protest bedtime. The requisite, calming bath is preceded by "Don't take my boots. That's my hose. I can't be Chief without my clothes." Bathtub play is, of course, followed by "Please? I want to stay." This little boy fumes at using a pink towel and refuses to be kissed, but, when the lights go out, he pleads for a bedtime story from his mother. The child's adventures?as a firefighter, admiral, and king?are always center stage in Karas's cartoon illustrations that perfectly complement the charming verse. In fact, readers don't see much of the mother at all other than her encouraging hands or supervising feet (from a child's bathtub point of view), until the good-night kiss and the "read-to-me" encore after lights out. Good Knight is an excellent go-to-bed book designed for repeated readings. Despite the playful protests, it will induce pleasant dreams.?John Sigwald, Unger Memorial Library, Plainview,
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Rymill captures a nearly universal domestic ritual in her picture-book debut: the nightly struggle to get a reluctant child into bed. A young fire chief complains vociferously as he's stripped of his gear and urged into the tub, protests again when he's removed in the midst of a sea battle, dried (``No. Don't get the pink towel. Admirals don't USE pink.''), handed his pajamas (``But it's not that time!''), and sent to his castle/bedroom. He tries to duck away from a kiss after he's tucked in, but finally succumbs to the inevitable, asking for a bedtime story and telling his mother he loves her. The short, rhymed text appears in varied sizes and weights on Karas's full-spread paintings; the child, with his stubby body stubbornly tilted against the visual flow, moves in and out of imaginary worlds that are depicted with dramatic colors and strong, jagged lines. (Picture book. 5-7) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 080504129X
• ISBN 13: 9780805041293
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Karas G. Brian
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32