Good Night Pillow Fight [Library Binding]

Sally Cook (Author), Laura Cornell (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Getting kids to sleep isn't easy -- especially when there are games to be played -- in bedrooms everywhere, adults try their best -- (but so do kids).

Author Sally Cook teams up with New York Times best-selling illustrator Laura Cornell in this uproarious ode to parents who would do anything to get their kids to sleep -- and to kids who would do anything to make the task, well . . . challenging.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3–Using just a few rhyming words that wind and wiggle their way across the pages in a variety of sizes and colors, this charming story will delight youngsters. Readers peek into a block of city apartments and find a diverse array of families heading to bed and trying to get their little ones to sleep in any way they can. When someone yells "Pillow fight!" things deteriorate rapidly, with kids hanging from their bunk beds, throwing their musical instruments out the window, and being calmed by exhausted, desperate adults. Hide-and-seek, asking for drinks and stories, and counting sheep finally give way to lights out, at which point somebody quietly asks, "Pillow fight?" Cornell's ink-and-watercolor cartoons work beautifully in scenes that range from close-ups to vignettes to detailed two-page paintings. The delightfully unique characters, dressed in wildly patterned pajamas and wearing an amazing array of expressions, seem to jump off the pages. The spread featuring a variety of parents in varying states of despair (begging, pulling out their hair, doing yoga, crying, standing on their head, and yelling) is particularly humorous. Although it probably won't lull anybody to sleep, Good Night Pillow Fight is a book that children and parents will want to enjoy together again and again.–Shelley B. Sutherland, Niles Public Library District, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* PreS. In lighted windows across a city, the universal bedtime battle rages. With just a few words per page, Cook's elemental rhymes toss familiar dialogue back and forth between beleaguered parents and giddy, defiant children: "Good night. Pillow fight!" In Cornell's scribbly paint-and-ink illustrations, rendered with irresistible detail and skewed angles, desperate parents cajole their offspring: a father in top hat and tails dances for his nonplussed son; a mother seated in lotus position tries meditation with her bug-eyed child. The children aren't falling for anything. Cornell's glorious spreads explode with grinning, frenzied kids charging about like heat-seeking missiles. Pleas for juice and stories finally escalate into a showdown: "Go to BED!" reads the large text below an image of a father's hand, authoritative finger pointed. "You haven't READ!" reads the text on the next spread, above a picture of a tiny, equally accusatory finger pointing right back. Eventually, everyone settles down, and sleepy dialogue drifts through a night sky until a tenuous quiet is broken by a last, weak "Pillow fight?" Cornell's illustrations beautifully capture the full range of emotions bedtime brings--the manic joy, the wild fatigue, and most of all the love--in this sly, exuberant view of a fundamental struggle that parents and children everywhere know. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Library Binding: 32 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (April 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062051903
• ISBN-13: 978-0062051905
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 10.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,905,117 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I absolutely love writing books for all ages. I've written a picture book with only 90 words (GOOD NIGHT PILLOW FIGHT) and a picture book that has at least four times as many words HEY BATTA BATTA SWING! THE WILD OLD DAYS OF BASEBALL with James Charlton. I've written a NYT-best-seller for young adults and adults ANOTHER SEASON: A COACH'S STORY OF RAISING AN EXCEPTIONAL SON with the legendary coach, Gene Stallings and I am currently working on many children's books as well as a book for adults.

I love creating evergreens...books that stand the test of time. In fact, recently James Patterson chose HEY BATTA BATTA as one of his top five favorite children's books. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:kVzY_ogO5PoJ:www.usaweekend.com/article/20110617/ENTERTAINMENT06/306170004/Inspire-your-kids-read+books+that+inspire+young+readers+james+patterson+usa+weekend&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a&source=www.google.com

Make sure you check out this fun page http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Hey-Batta-Batta-Swing-The-Wild-Old-Days-of-Baseball/219231448109029

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Winner, May 15, 2004

By 

Trish Marx "author" (New York, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Good Night Pillow Fight (Library Binding)

The best picture books keep me turning the pages... and then invite me to start all over again. Cook and Cornell's GOOD NIGHT PILLOW FIGHT is page-turner par exellence, my personal favorite page being "You haven't READ!" Isn't this what it is all about - books to read, books to share, books to giggle over, and finally books to remember, long after, because they allowed reader and child to glimpse an enduring and univeral facet of childhood?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bedtime Drama, May 6, 2004

By 

Maryann V. Macdonald (new york, ny United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Good Night Pillow Fight (Library Binding)

The nightly battle to STAY UP LATER is reported on from the front lines in Good Night, Pillow Fight. Kids' familiar delaying tactics...stories, drinks, pillow fights...are pitted against tired parents' defensive strategies in this adorable book from two parents and friends who are obvious veterans. Cook's pithy prose and Cornell's witty images are a great match. A top-notch trip to these familiar trenches.

5.0 out of 5 stars Brings out the giggles!, November 6, 2009

By 

K. Hernandez (Chicago, IL. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Good Night Pillow Fight (Hardcover)

I came across this book at the library and ended up buying it from Amazon because my 3 yr. old son loved it so much. It is very simply written with few words, but the illustrations are cute and my son thinks it's hilarious. The story is something all parents/kids can relate to because it's about how children use any excuse to delay going to bed. Just like any other time that you read to your child, I think you have to match your voice and emotion to the story in order to keep them engaged and entertained. So, with "Good Night Pillow Fight" it's not any different. I've read this book so many times to my son that he knows all of it by heart and says the words with me!