Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters: A Lullaby

More cute than creepy, this lullaby follows two monsters from classroom to bedtime routine. The narration benefits enormously from witty illustrations by Murphy, which abound in slithery, sinister asides.

This brief lullaby-story provides just-right toddler-sized chills… Silly going-to-sleep sounds such as “Growl / Gurgle / Burp” gently bring this soon-to-be popular book to an end. There's plenty in this scary-sweet book to please children all year round.

The monsters look like they walked off a Maurice Sendak casting call, with their big, wobbly bodies and almost random sprinklings of horns, tentacles, and eyeballs. Yolen winds down her lullaby with night noises (Burp / Grrrr / Snarl / Snarf) that peter away as the two monstrous siblings finally conk out. Bedtime fare you can count on.

The book is filled with enough slap-dash action, humor, and gentle disobedience to keep readers eager for more readings—and probably not all that eager for sleep.

Though Halloween tales and lots of candy may keep kids far from their beds, sleep must come eventually. There is no better way to wind down trick-or-treaters than with Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters by children’s book legend Jane Yolen… It’s the perfect end to a spooky October day.

The biggest treats here are the details buried in Kelly Murphy’s playful paintings of the monsters, more gentle, domesticated cousins of Maurice Sendak’s classic wild things. Vocabulary words to read aloud include growl, burp, grrrr, and that all time parental favorite: Zzzzz.

"There’s plenty in this scary-sweet book to please children all year round."