Beat the Bedtime Blues. (Debi Gliori's Bedtime Stories - Debi Gliori)

Member Name: Lunah_C

Product:	Debi Gliori's Bedtime Stories - Debi Gliori
Date:	12/03/07 (58 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gives familiar stories a twist to keep them interesting.

Disadvantages: None

I recently won a competition with Dorling Kindersley. The prize was up to £150 worth of books.

I chose some books that would be great for school homework and a couple for both hubby and I but one I really wanted was out of stock. So I needed an alternative. Then I came across this book. The children already had a number of story books, but this sounded like a good one we could read together.



***AUTHOR***

The author I had not heard of before, but the synopsis of the book along with the picture on the front appealed to me.
However a bit of research told me that Debi Gliori has over 100 picture book titles to her credit, Many are international bestsellers and some for which she has won awards. Debi has a partner and five children, which I am sure is one reason why she is so good at writing books aimed at children.
She also seems to have the ability for writing for children of various ages. Whilst this particular book seems more aimed at younger ones I noticed she has written a series of books a little similar to the Harry Potter stories which are aimed at older children and teenagers.

***PRICE***
In my case the book was free, but here are current prices both online and in the shops for the A4 sized paperback version.
Tesco £6.49
DK £5.99
Amazon £4.79
WHSmith £4.79



***THE BOOK***
In the Introduction Debi likens the writing of this book to making a nine course dinner. She explains how she used everyday ingredients, or characters, such as the little red hen, the wolf and the sluggish tortoise, and then used them to try and make as she puts it, a dinner to remember.

She then goes on to explain how and why she picked each character. I have to say even just the Introduction had been in stitches, particularly finding the most organic little red hen. This of course just whets my appetite for the rest of the book, which I couldn’t wait to get stuck into.

Later that evening, all snug in a blanket, I started to read. I don’t want to tell you all about each story as it really would spoil it, but I will give you an idea as to what each is about.

~~Little Red Hen~~ Little Red Hen decides to make a lemon meringue pie (traditionally a loaf of bread) amongst all her other household chores and tries to get her friends to help. But Pig is too busy doing a crossword, Cat prefers to sunbathe and Duck is lounging by the pond making herself beautiful. So hen ends up doing all the work herself. But what will happen when the pie is ready?

~~Nail soup~~ I’m not quite sure what story this is a twist of, but anyway, anyway after having just moved into her new home, and faced with the task of unpacking her 642 cardboard boxes, there is a knock at the door. It is her new neighbour, inviting her round for dinner that evening. Only one problem, the neighbour is a rather ravenous wolf and she is the proposed dinner. So, how will she get out of it?

~~The Town mouse and the Country mouse~~ This story is done in poem style, but in just as hilarious a way. Town mouse decides to invite her Country cousin for a visit. She chooses to go and invite her personally rather than phone, fax, email, write or even send a carrier pigeon. Once invited, they both set off towards town. Town Mouse is delighted to have her cousin to stay but the local cat is even more delighted. So how will they get out of the situation, and what will Country mouse make of it all?

~~The Lion and the Mouse~~ Again in verse style, a mouse accidentally wakes a sleeping lion causing her life to be in danger. The lion decides to let the Mouse go, and the mouse vows never to forget what the lion has done for her. It is not long before the mouse gets a chance to return the favour, but how and with what results?

~~The tortoise and the Hare~~ A very familiar story, but done in such style. The Hare tells the tortoise that his get up and go has got up and gone, having none of it, a challenge is set. So donned in his shell suit…..well, what else do you expect him to wear?......the tortoise lines up against the hare at the starting line. Hare races ahead, whilst tortoise plods along, stopping for pit stops and the occasional poo. We all know the end result to the race, but you will have to read the book to find out how it happened.

~~Wolf and Rabbit~~ Old grandpa Rabbit is sitting on his porch in his favourite rocking chair. On his lap are his eight grandchildren. When all are settled he starts recalling to them the time when Grandma Rabbit met the Big Bad Wolf down by the Loch side. The two agree to have a race around the globe with the winner getting to eat the loser. The Grandchildren fear the worst, and come to the conclusion that their Grandma is going to be eaten with carrots, but Grandpa Sighs, and asks how many times he has to tell them to wait and see what happens and never assume the obvious. And this really is what you have to do throughout this story, because it might not just turn out how you expect!

~~There was an old woman who swallowed a fly~~ I remember this rhyme well from my own childhood; however it seems this old woman has swallowed a few things that I don’t recall, and as to what the things do once inside her, well, you’ll just have to read it to find out. She does die though!

~~The Three Little Pigs~~ The three pigs, Hamstraw, Pigwood and Porkstone, are all builders. But each one specializes in a different material. Can you guess what they are? Then one day their buildings are put to the test by the localwolf. He huffs and he puffs and, you know the rest. Or do you?

~~One Fat Cat~~ A bit of a mixture this one. The story involves one very lazy, but greedy fat cat, who eats her owner out of house and home, then eats her owner. Deciding to walk a bit of the indigestion off she bumps into Little Red Riding Hood, (who tasted quite good) followed by The three little pigs (swine, that slid down just fine) and a few other characters from the book. Being a greedy cat she eats them all up. By now we have one very large, flatulent cat and no characters from the book. So will that be the end of them all?


***IN CONCLUSION***

This has to be one of the best children’s books that I have read in a long time. So many children’s books are very predictable from just the first few pages.The children sat enthralled the whole time and whilst a few of the bits went over their head it certainly gave me plenty to chuckle at.

The fact that I really didn’t know what was going to happen gave me enthusiasm, and meant I was happy to continue reading. Even though they are traditional tales and I had some idea of the end results, the things that happen in between are quite unexpected in a lot of cases.

The book is written simply enough that any child who has been reading for a little while and has mastered the basic words could cope with it, and the comical illustrations would just amuse any non readers. But with it being such a delight I can’t see any parent refusing to read this book to their little ones.

Well worth the money in my opinion.

Summary: Some well known tales given a little twist to add a little humour and a bit of extra fun for adult a