Once Upon a Time, the End (Asleep in 60 Seconds) [Hardcover]

Geoffrey Kloske (Author), Barry Blitt (Illustrator)

Book Description

Once upon a time

there was a grown-up

looking for a book

with very short bedtime stories

for a kid who wouldn't go to sleep.

So the grown-up picked up this book

and read this flap

and took the book home

and read it out loud

and they both laughed

and fell fast asleep

fast.

Just like you.

The end.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2–Here's a fresh approach to fractured fairy tales: take one small child's insatiable demand for Just one more story and add a sleepy parent's wish to get the bedtime ritual over with as quickly as possible. The result is this collection of eight condensed folktales. For example, Goldilocks and the Bears begins, There were some bears;/It doesn't really matter how many./There was a bunch./Let's get to the point: and ends, When the bears came back,/They found her asleep./She woke up, screamed, and ran home/So she could sleep in her own bed./Just like you. A few nursery rhymes (Hickory, dickory, dock,/A mouse ran up the clock./The clock struck eight./Oh, my, it's late!/So the mouse went straight to bed) and jokes round out the book. Blitt's ink-and-watercolor illustrations are amusing, with fine lines and soothing colors underscoring the comedy in the characters and situations. The cover shows an intensely alert toddler on the lap of a sleeping father, surrounded by several dozing characters (Goliath sucking his thumb, for example, and Red Riding Hood conked out next to the wolf dressed as Grandma). The sometimes sly, sometimes outrageous, sometimes simply silly humor will go over the heads of most preschoolers, but it's right on target for their older siblings (and tired parents, of course).–Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* K-Gr. 3. "Is there a pea under your bed? / Then what's your excuse? / Go to bed." Reading at bedtime to his kid, who refuses to fall asleep, a desperate dad shortens the old stories, twists the nursery rhymes, and adds his own messages (" Why are you still awake?") in hilarious, short, fractured fairy tales and verse. On each spacious double-page spread, Blitt's cartoon-style, line-and-watercolor pictures are both beautiful and funny, whether depicting the mayhem of the "Two Little Pigs" or the cozy view of Dad surrounded by books, desperate to get his sweet kid to sleep so that "everyone could live happily ever after." As the parent gets more exhausted, the stories get shorter, angrier, and wilder (when all those kids in the shoe won't go to bed, the old lady sells them to the zoo). The triumph of the child who refuses to bow to authority will appeal to preschoolers, and so will the loving bedtime scenes. Older elementary-school children who know the stories and can appreciate the parody will probably like this, too. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers; 3rd edition (August 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689866194
• ISBN-13: 978-0689866197
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 9.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,762 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #84 in Books > Children's Books > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > Anthologies

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun for kids AND adults!, December 24, 2005

By 

Squeaky'sMom (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Once Upon a Time, the End (Asleep in 60 Seconds) (Hardcover)

Our secret is out! We thought we were the only people who cut words out so the stories would go faster, but apparently not! The result is some hysterically mangled little classics (like the "two little pigs", and "there were some bears, it doesn't matter how many"). The first time we read this, I laughed myself silly. My kids aren't old enough to get all the jokes, but love it just the same. A winner---I'm buying more copies to give as gifts to some other parents who (some nights) struggle through too many bedtime stories...

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious!, October 28, 2005

By 

[e-mail] "Kasey" (Indianapolis, Indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Once Upon a Time, the End (Asleep in 60 Seconds) (Hardcover)

I admit it ... I'm one of those parents who sometimes just wants to get storytime over with. We always read three books a night, and this will be in our rotation for quite some time, I predict. This is hilarious! A book with an attitude. Gotta love it. Still laughing ...

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WONDERFUL!, January 9, 2007

By 

Erin Johnson "EJ in NJ" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Once Upon a Time, the End (Asleep in 60 Seconds) (Hardcover)

This is such a charming, fun and happy book. My children (2 and 4) giggle all the through the book.
We love it so much, I have purchased more for gifts. So many wonderful bed time stories with such a clever twist!