I Am Not Going To Get Up Today! (Beginner Books(R)) [Hardcover]

Dr. Seuss (Author), James Stevenson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up | Series: Beginner Books(R)

"A rhyming story that is full of laughs. 'The alarm can ring. The birds can peep....Today's the day I'm going to sleep,' says a lazy boy one morning, and despite a pail of icy water, television coverage, and the arrival of the Marines, he vows to stay in bed--and he does! The repetition of concepts and words will keep children turning the pages, as will the energetic drawings. A sure draw for early readers."--Booklist.  

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Although I'm Not Going to Get Up Today! is aimed at young readers, it just gets better as you get older. Only after you've weathered more than few world-weary years can you fully appreciate this book's profound and universal message: "The alarm can ring. The birds can peep. My bed is warm. My pillow's deep. Today's the day I'm going to sleep!" But the rhyming words of Dr. Seuss and goofy illustrations from James Stevenson will surely get more than a few giggles from the old and the young, as everyone in town--from brothers and sisters to the police and the Marines--conspires to get our little hero out of bed. But, as the sleepy boy says, "nobody's going to get me up, no matter what he does." (Not with tickling nor shaking nor cold water on the head.) "Nothing's going to get me up. Why can't you understand! You'll only waste your money if you hire a big brass band." (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes

From Publishers Weekly

Part of the Beginner Books series, this light piece of whimsy is narrated by a boy in striped pajamas who, with closed eyes, proclaims that under no circumstances will he be getting out of bed and going anywhere. "I don't choose to be up walking. I don't choose to be up talking. The only thing I'm choosing is to lie here woozy-snoozing." The Marines can't raise him, nor can a big brass band. In this everychild's fantasy, the boy takes charge of his own destiny on this particular morning. Stevenson shows the surrounding madcap lunacy, as well as the neat, sublime smile of the narrator recounting his plans. Easygoing and funny fare, not only for beginning readers. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (October 12, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394892178
• ISBN-13: 978-0394892177
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 0.5 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,333 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"A person's a person, no matter how small," Theodor Seuss Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss, would say. "Children want the same things we want. To laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained and delighted."

Brilliant, playful, and always respectful of children, Dr. Seuss charmed his way into the consciousness of four generations of youngsters and parents. In the process, he helped millions of kids learn to read.

Dr. Seuss was born Theodor Geisel in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 2, 1904. After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1925, he went to Oxford University, intending to acquire a doctorate in literature. At Oxford, Geisel met Helen Palmer, whom he wed in 1927. Upon his return to America later that year, Geisel published cartoons and humorous articles for Judge, the leading humor magazine in America at that time. His cartoons also appeared in major magazines such as Life, Vanity Fair, and Liberty. Geisel gained national exposure when he won an advertising contract for an insecticide called Flit. He coined the phrase, "Quick, Henry, the Flit!" which became a popular expression.

Geisel published his first children's book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, in 1937, after 27 publishers rejected it.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1984, an Academy Award, three Emmy Awards, three Grammy Awards, and three Caldecott Honors, Geisel wrote and illustrated 44 books. While Theodor Geisel died on September 24, 1991, Dr. Seuss lives on, inspiring generations of children of all ages to explore the joys of reading.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars OK, Now you are about to hear a confession . . ., September 20, 2000

By 

J. J. Falcone "Justina Reads!" (S.W. Florida via Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I Am Not Going To Get Up Today! (Beginner Books(R)) (Hardcover)

I am a confirmed Dr Seuss hater. My tongue gets twisted, the words cannot come, his rhymes are annoying, I don't think they're fun. OOOPS! Seriously, as one who actually dreaded having my toddlers drag their favorite Dr Seuss tomes behind them, and promising a book burning if I had to read GREEN EGGS AND HAM one more time, I have to admit . . . I LOVED THIS BOOK. How many of us cannot identify with the main cahracter who simply is NOT going to get up today? The rhymes may be a bit much (remember I am not a huge Dr Seuss fan) but rather than imaginary worlds filled with strange looking thingies, this is a REAL little boy who is just too warm and toasty to get up! And so, his family, friends and entire TOWN endeavor to get him out of bed. There is a fun repetitiveness, which encourages the kiddies to sing-song along with the chorus "I AM NOT GOING TO GET UP TODAY," and a playfulness in the illustrations that suggests that they are geared for the grown ups to be entertained by. And finally, when the Mom at the end announces, "HE'S NOT GOING TO GET UP," we feel that we are entitled to share in his victory. Not even the UNITED STATES MARINES could get him out of bed!

A fun book to read again and again!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bed First!, February 21, 2001

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I Am Not Going To Get Up Today! (Beginner Books(R)) (Hardcover)

Do you know any children who like to get up early to go to school? Well, we haven't had one yet in our family. So each morning is quite a challenge.

I Am Not Going to Get Up Today! is comic relief for those moments.

Let me explain. The book begins with this refrain by a small boy with a dog lying under his bed.

"Please let me be,

Please go away,

I am not going to get up today!"

In the course of the story, the boy resists the alarm, peeping birds, other kids getting up, his mother bringing in an egg for breakfast, noise of siblings, tickling his feet, shaking his bed, pouring cold water on his head, talking by the neighbors, noise by neighbors, sweets, dogs, roosters, goats, geese, the police, publicity in the newspaper, the Marines, and a television crew.

He still wants to "lie here woozy-snoozing."

In the end, his mother brings in a policeman and says:

"I guess he really means it.

So you can have the egg."

Have you ever been that tired? I hope not.

The book is designed to get lots of great laughs from your child and sympathetic smiles from you as you read the book together.

How can it help in the morning? You can do a play based on the book. You can walk in grandly with an egg cup on a tray, and ask whether you should give the egg to the policeman. You can get a tape of a marching band to play. In any event, your fun with this story will turn snoozy mornings into laugh-filled events. And laughter is an excellent antidote to lethargy.

I also suggest that you ask your child what the mother should have done. This will be all the clue you need to find out how your child would most like to be awakened.

Time to rise and shine!

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fine children's book that helps them learn so much..., March 15, 2008

By 

Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I Am Not Going To Get Up Today! (Beginner Books(R)) (Hardcover)

I Am Not Going To Get Up Today (Beginner Books) by Dr. Seuss is a whimsical fantasy tale that should appeal to very young children. As another reviewer notes, young kids are full of energy; they don't truly want to stay in bed and this book won't encourage them to do that, either. However, the story makes a great fantasy and the book is also a solid educational tool for children learning to read.

The story is relatively simple; a young boy is tired and he wants to take the day off and lounge in bed. He is rather obstinate; even his mother and a cop can't get him out of bed! Along the way, the young child learns a lot about the English language and reading--and that's great.

Children are introduced to names of places including Paris, Massachusetts, Berlin, Alaska, China, Spain and more! This can easily generate a conversation with your child about what foreign (or distant) places are like; and the child can get a good basic understanding that the world is really a very large place with many different cultures.

This book also teaches children the sounds that some things make. For example, the book, usually through the use of text that rhymes, mentions how birds "peep;" how an alarm clock "rings;" how a bed can be "warm" and how a pillow can be "deep." Great!

I suppose that for some very active children the idea of a child taking a rest in bed could show them an example of the importance of learning to rest.

Overall, I Am Not Going To Get Up Today is another fine children's book by the great Dr. Seuss; and I recommend this book heartily for parents to read with their very young children. The book is an excellent educational tool that helps children learn to read and understand words, places and other concepts like "warm" and "deep."

Great job, Dr. Seuss!