Everything to Spend the Night From A to Z [Hardcover]

Ann Whitford Paul (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 2 and up

Grandpa! Grandpa! Come and see the things I brought for you and me--I packed my bag. I filled it tight with ... Everything to Spend the Night! Rollicking rhymes and illustrations packed with funny details reflect this exuberant narrator's delight as she pulls one thing after another out of her overnight bag and invites her grandpa to join in the fun. Readers will laugh not only at what she's packed, but at the imaginative things she does: "Now let's pretend we're in a lake. I brought an oar. watch me take two chairs, add pillows... Look, a boat! Climb on board -- off we float!" It isn't until everything's out of the bag that she discovers she's forgotten one very important thing: her pj's. Luckily, Grandpa has a solution. Full of joy and humor, this is one overnight no child will want to miss.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

You never know what you're going to need to pack when you're spending the night at Grandpa's house. The little red-haired girl in this exuberant, rhyming story needs quite a bit of this and that, from apples to the zipper on her overnight bag, and everything in between. "'Here's my Quilt. / I drape it down / and cut gold paper / into crowns. / Ta-daaaaaa! I'm Queen. / ...and you're my king. / I even brought a royal Ring,'" she pronounces, as Grandpa humors her with a deep bow. This all-day, nonstop grandpa-granddaughter party bounds along at a breakneck pace as she breaks out the drums, earmuffs, feather, gum, hairbrush, inchworm, jigsaw puzzle, and more: "My Music box will play the song. / Let's twirl and spin / and sing along. / I'm not tired, Grandpa. See! / I packed more / things for you and me." She thoroughly exhausts Grandpa and the black-and-white cat (whose antics are hysterical to watch throughout the day's shenanigans), but they are both very good sports--even when it turns out that, after all that packing, their little Queen forgot her pajamas. (Ages 3 to 7) --Karin Snelson

From Publishers Weekly

Asked to pack for even the briefest excursion, children invariably put in everything but the kitchen sinkAa proclivity that Paul (Hello Toes! Hello Feet!) and Smith (Counting Our Way to Maine) capitalize on with inexhaustible exuberance. Arriving at her grandfather's for a sleepover, a dynamo of a girl gleefully starts unpacking her duffel: "First some Apples we can share/ with Bunny and my fuzzy Bear./ They cry whenever I'm not home./ I couldn't leave them all alone." But this is no simple alphabetical show-and-tell. The heroine is one of those children who seems to be everywhere at once, always coming up with a new idea (especially in the name of delaying bedtime): paddling a boat that she's constructed from chairs, playing queen with her quilt. Grandpa gamely plays along, not even seeming to mind when the girl shows him "A Hairbrush for your hair," and then points out his bald pate. Rather than moving in a lockstep march to the progression of the alphabet, Paul's text has a wonderful loosey-goosey feel, with a consistently comic and plausible story line. Smith's strongly hued watercolors bounce with energy, and she endows the little girl with plenty of spunk. A skillful mixing of formats and perspectives and a playful use of type guarantee a whirlwind visual pace. Ages 2-7.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 2 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: DK CHILDREN; 1st edition (March 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789425114
• ISBN-13: 978-0789425119
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,171,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ann Whitford Paul graduated from the University of Wisconsin and Columbia University School of Social Work. She became inspired to write picture books after years of bedtime reading to her four children. She's published 19 different award-winning books. Now she gets story ideas from her three grandchildren. For ten years she taught picture book writing through UCLA Extension. She still enjoys teaching how to write picture books. When she isn't writing or teaching, she loves listening to her cat purr, watching spiders spin their webs and following snails' trails. You can learn more about her, download writing tips and classroom activities, and contact her through her web-site www.annwhitfordpaul.net.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The true joy of grandparenthood, January 5, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Everything to Spend the Night From A to Z (Hardcover)

This book captures the pure love a child feels for her grandfather in wanting to share all her enthusiasm for life in one night at a sleepover with this special man. The grandfather is a good sport and trys to play along with all her little games that she had planned for the sleepover. He trys to humor her, but at the same time he thoroughly enjoys this wonderful little person sporting a zest for life. There aren't enough hours in the day for this child. There is a heartwarming ending with bonding memories. A wonderful book!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great Father's day gift for a new Grandfather!, July 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Everything to Spend the Night From A to Z (Hardcover)

What an excellent book to give to a new grandfather. Well illustrated, colorful about the warm relationship of a grandfather and his granddaughter. The alphabetical items she packs leads one into a great adventure for an evening with grandpa.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grins!, April 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Everything to Spend the Night From A to Z (Hardcover)

I can't help but grin when I read this book. Text and art work wonderfully well together to creative a delightful and funny look at a warm and loving relationship between a grandfather and a young girl. This book would make a terrific gift for a grandfather on Father's Day! Don't miss it!