Mortimer
"Clang, clang, rattle-bing-bang. I'm gonna make my noise all day."
As I scanned the pages I thought twice about reading this book to my boys at bedtime. It is the story of a little boy who won't go to sleep at night and who drives his family crazy with his noisiness. (I've got two of those!) It is full of trips up and down the stairs at bedtime with not so patient reminders to be quiet. Did Robert Munsch write the story of my life?
All kids have times when they don't like going to sleep. I know my boys easily related to Mortimer and his inability to settle down at night. Nothing I do or say seems to make them go down faster. Unlike Mortimer's folks I've never tried having the police try to subdue them, but after having read the book I'm glad to know they don't have much more effect than I do. And just like my real life, Mortimer finally falls asleep on his own, while everyone else gets all worked up about keeping him quiet.
We liked counting Mortimer's seventeen brothers and sisters in Michael Martechenko's fun illustrations. The facial expressions are amusing for parents and helped my three year old understand how angry people can get when kids won't go to sleep.
