From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2–No one is more adept at avoiding bedtime than Cutie LaRue. After being driven to distraction, the child's exasperated parents find a magical remedy for those sleepless nights. They order a talking Night Owl doll from the Trusty Trinket toy catalog. After Mom and Dad leave the bedroom, Night Owl comes to life and takes Cutie to the Dreamland Nightclub, where the party never stops. It's a rollicking good time finding out whether or not Cutie's shenanigans with the Slumber Brothers, Satin Doll, and Sandman will ever tucker her out. Bright watercolor spreads are a perfect canvas for Brian Pinkney's playful trademark pen-and-ink illustrations. A satisfying read-aloud for little insomniacs.
–Ajoke' T. I. Kokodoko, Oakland Public Library, CA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
PreS-Gr. 2. Despite the title, this is not a revised edition of Sleeping Beauty, but a picture book featuring a preschooler named Cutie. Thoroughly agreeable all day, the child is not sleepy at bedtime. Though her exhausted parents try warm milk, bubble baths, and foot rubs to make her drowsy, Cutie simply becomes more headstrong and determined each night until she receives a new toy owl. Night Owl takes Cutie on a surprise trip to a nightclub called Dreamland, where Satin Doll plays piano, Sandman is on drums, and the Slumber Brothers dance a little soft-shoe. Cutie joins in the dancing until, exhausted, she falls asleep. Terms like "cut the rug to ribbons" or "sipped a nightcap" (double-chocolate cocoa) winks more at adults, but children get an imaginative night on the town. With washes bright enough to waken any sleepyhead, the ink drawings bustle with movement and with rhythmically repeated lines that create their own visual music within the pictures. A fanciful romp for the "I can't sleep" set.
Carolyn PhelanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
