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Summary
Summary
From Bunmi Laditan, the creator of the Honest Toddler blog, The Big Bed is a humorous picture book about a girl who doesn't want to sleep in her little bed, so she presents her dad with his own bed--a camping cot!--in order to move herself into her parents' big bed in his place. A twist on the classic parental struggle of not letting kids sleep in their bed.
Author Notes
Bunmi Laditan is an avid contributor to Mothering.com, Parenting.com, The Huffington Post and iVillage.com. She enjoys writing about her family and offering advise on raising children. Her titles include: Confessions of a Domestic Failure, The Honest Toddler: A Child's Guide to Parenting, and Toddlers Are A**holes: It's Not Your Fault.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-K-A young girl tries to negotiate with her dad about who should sleep in the "big bed." She approaches her father as if she were the boss of a company. She acts as if she is offering him a deal by providing him with alternative sleeping arrangements in exchange for his place in the "big bed." The child's ideas are captured and illustrated in wavy thought bubbles. Her proposals are interesting and she attempts to back them with facts to support her conclusions. Her approach as a negotiator and figure of authority is further alluded to with the presence of an easel, a lab coat, a pointer, photographs, and various diagrams. The young girl speaks in an adult tone with authoritative phrasing. However, her childlike point of view is evident through the nature of her dialogue. Important phrases are emphasized with cursive writing throughout the narrative. The book's cartoon illustrations feature curvy and straight lines used to create texture and dimension. The circular eyes of the characters become a focal point throughout the book. The book is filled with an array of brightly colored monochromatic backgrounds that are interchanged with white backgrounds which gives the book a fun and unpredictable feel. VERDICT This quirky and humorous bedtime book could be used to encourage children to explain their ideas in unique ways. It could also be used to encourage them to support their ideas with evidence.-Deanna Smith, formerly at Mamaroneck Public Library, NY © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Laditan brings the honesty and cheeky humor of her Honest Toddler books, blog, and tweets to her first picture book. Her prickly, precocious heroine is fiercely possessive of her mother ("No one can deny that Mommy is full of cozies and smells like fresh bread"), and she decides that the family bed has gotten far too small. There's no way the girl is going to stay in her own bed-she's afraid of the dark-so she offers her father an ultimatum disguised as a sales pitch, complete with visual aids and fake empathy ("Daddy, I see you. I hear you"). But wait, there's more: Dad can sleep on a cot right next to the bed ("You'll feel like an honorary park ranger and look like one, too!"). Knight's cartoons alternatively flatter and tickle readers with the girl's misplaced confidence, and his images reveal that Mommy and Daddy are a united, even bemused, front. Laditan's story doesn't so much end as abruptly stop, but many families will identify with her heroine's I-mean-business attitude. Ages 4-6. Illustrator's agent: Anne Moore Armstrong, Bright Group. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
A brown-skinned, pig-tailed girl spends the length of this book telling her father why he should let her take his spot next to Mommy in the "big bed" ("Am I mistaken, or don't you already have a mommy?"). Knight's cartoony illustrations capture the imagined outcomes of the girl's hilarious hard sell--such as when ousted Daddy waves from a cot plunked somewhere in a forest. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Blogger Laditan (The Honest Toddler) makes her picture-book debut with the story of a little girl who argues for her dad's spot in "the big bed.""I am a reasonable person. I don't want to see anybody get their feelings hurt." So begins the confident protagonist's preface to her argument for "the big bed." Inviting Daddy to take a seat in her small pink plastic chair, the protagonista brown-skinned girl with two coily poofsfirst compliments her dad's skills as a giver of piggyback rides and wrestling opponent. While this makes him a VIP (Very Important Piggyback-ride giver), the crux of her argument follows: "Who does Mommy belong to?" There are just two choices: to the assertive protagonist or to her father (clearly not to herself!). The accompanying illustration belies the protagonist's previously calm demeanor, portraying her true feelings through her angry eyes (and eyebrows) glaring out at viewers from the bottom of the page. The illustrations augment the hilarity of the protagonist's further arguments and suggestions about where Daddy should sleep instead. When the little girl tells Mommy her plan, she is met with laughter (which she interprets as encouragement), and the final illustration makes it clear both parents (who are also black) are amused.A smart, charmingly manipulative kid trying to get what she wants makes for a fun (and diverse!) story that both children and adults can enjoy. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
There comes a time when sharing your bed with your little one becomes a domestic dispute. Laditan (The Honest Toddler, 2013) follows a little girl who wants to snuggle with Mom on the too-crowded big bed, and decides what is best for the family is for her daddy to sleep on his very own cot: Every night can feel like a camping trip with a metal-and-canvas cot! With this almost twin-size portable mountain bed, you'll feel like an honorary park ranger! She presents the genius idea in true business-pitch fashion: out come the diagrams with a child's rendition of all the reasons why her dad should move out of the bed. One: he already has a mom and she shouldn't have to share hers! Two: he isn't afraid of the dark, like she is. Three: he gets to pick out any sheets he wants for his cot! What more could you want?! Every page is laugh-out-loud funny, as Laditan, with Knight's expressive illustrations, expertly presents the girl's matter-of-fact business approach. Beware: readers may get sold on the idea.--Camargo, Rosie Copyright 2018 Booklist
