There's a Hippo in my Bed... (I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed - Lauren Child)

Member Name: allybally

Product:	I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed - Lauren Child
Date:	11/12/06 (67 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Imaginative, creative and silly

Disadvantages: Mass of patterned illustrations can be a bit straining

There is some duplication from my I am absolutely too small for school review.

Author:/Illustrator: Lauren Child
Publisher:
Publish Date:
Genre: Children's Picture Book
Age Suitability: 4 - 8 (This is according to the publisher's my 2 ½ year old reads them now and I would suggest this would be of interest to kids older than 6)
Number of Pages: 32
Amazon Price: £4.74 RRP: £5.99

***About the Author*** (taken from I am absolutely too small for school)
39 year old Lauren Child, borne to an Art teacher father grew up in Wiltshire. She studied art at both Manchester Polytechnic and City and Guilds of London Art School although she admits to learning very little during her time there. Shortly after leaving school, Child started a business making exotic lampshades.

Child's first writing efforts resulted in the popular Clarice Bean which was published in 1999 and she hasn't looked back since. She has gone on to write over twenty children's books and win a Kate Greenaway Medal for her artwork, chosen to promote 2000's World Book Day.

***Who are Charlie and Lola*** (taken from I am absolutely too small for school)
For those of you who haven't read any of the Charlie and Lola series, you may have seen the TV adaptation of the books on BBC or Nickelodeon Junior.

Lola, is a cute little blonde girl with a wonderful imagination and a great sense of humour. Her older brother Charlie who is often left in charge of his sister (we never do meet their parents….) is possibly the most patient pre-teen ever! He is forever having to accommodate Lola and often has to call on his own equally vivid imagination in order to encourage her to do whatever it is he is trying to get her to do.

****Other Charlie and Lola Books***
I've won, no I've won, no I've won
Whoops! But it wasn't me
We honestly can look after your dog
I will never not ever eat a tomato
I am absolutely too small for school

***What's it all about***
Charlie is asked by his parents to put his little sister Lola to bed. This includes a bath, teeth brushing and getting into her pyjamas and proves to be a rather exciting adventure for both of them.

Lola is a little girl with a big imagination and she has an answer ready each time Charlie asks her to do something - She can't brush her teeth because a Lion is using it. She can't put her pyjamas on because they belong to two dancing dogs. She can't have a bath because there are two whales splashing around in it already.

Charlie meets each tale with the patience of a saint and never-mind the fact that he is a pre-teen boy and eventually after pink milk with two tigers and putting in a call to the two dogs to ask if Lola can borrow their pyjamas and endless other trials, Charlie manages to get his sister into bed.

***What did we think of the story***
I love Charlie and Lola anyway, whether it is the books or the cute TV series so I knew I would be impressed with this story, as I have been with several others.

Instead of stamping out Lola's wild imagination as simple time wasting techniques, Charlie encourages her to explore her weird little world and takes the journey with her. I love anything that advocates the use of a child's imagination so this book (and other Charlie and Lola books) is fantastic. Lola is a mischievous and creative little girl and the reader can't help but fall in love with her as she comes us with one scenario after another to avoid getting into bed.

Lauren Child has an obvious sense of humour which flies off the page at the reader. She manages to entertain the children with a magic that crosses over to the parents. While each kid will identify with Lola and how adamant she is that she doesn't need to go to bed, each parent will identify with Charlie's frustration and even amusement to Lola's actions.

This is a fantastic book and a fantastic series and I would recommend it to Mums, Dads, Grandparents, Aunties and Uncles, School Teachers and Nursery Workers of children who push the limits when it comes to bedtime!

***What did we think of the illustrations*** (parts taken from I am absolutely too small for school)
Lauren Child uses a mixture of bold black lines, flat colours and pattered pieces to create what can best be described as a "Kaleidoscopic collage." Her characters are firstly drawn using pencils (she refuses to us ink or pen) before being cut out and transferred to the computer.

This method results in a much layered style of illustration throughout the book giving the reader an awful lot to look at and take in. My son can spend hours dissecting all the imagery on one page of Lauren Childs work. The bright colours and busy patterns are extremely stimulating to any child and the quirky un-evenness Child uses adds to the child-like quality of her pictures.

I also find the characters are much more prominent and recognisable in this manner of illustration as they represent a simpler, cleaner image which is in direct contrast to the messy, busy torn patterned pictures that make up the background.

The other characters that feature in this story add a humourous quality to the book. As if they have been cut out, the characters are awkward looking and uneven. This only adds to the idea that they are out of place and unreal allowing kids to understand that they are a part of Lola's imagination and not a part of real life.

***Overall impression***
Lovely book which encourages imagination and creativity! A book for all kids!

Summary: Charlie outsmarts his sister in the bedtime struggle