The Big Bed

November 27, 2017
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.

February 1, 2018

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 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2018
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 protagonist--a brown-skinned girl with two coily poofs--first 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)

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January 1, 2019
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.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)