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above: Little Melanie is too busy building a tower with her blocks and ignores Mom’s insistence that it’s time to get ready for bed…
Bedtime! -written by Christine Anderson & illustrated by Steven Salerno published by Philomel Books/Penguin, 2005.
A charmingly stubborn girl is ever so busy with the important endeavor of building a magnificent block tower for her lively stuffed animals to live in… ignoring Mom’s request to get ready for bed. So Mom engages the family dog in a way to cleverly lure Melanie into her bedtime rituals…
“Salerno's watercolor, gouache, and ink artwork has a stylized, modern retro look and a dynamic use of line. The illustrations maximize the action and provide plenty of humorous touches. This is an irresistible approach to the ups and downs of bedtime rituals” -School Library Journal
“The thought of missing more of the beloved [bedtime] ritual sends Melanie flying to brush her teeth and change clothes. Just in time for her favorite story... Salerno's facial expressions are the perfect accompaniment, capturing by turns the thoughtfulness, triumph, curiosity, accusation, dismay and worry that pass over Melanie's face. The retro look of the colors and design work well, too. Sure to be a favorite for parents and children alike…” -Kirkus Reviews
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above: the cover for Bedtime!
see Steven’s complete list of published picture books to date
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above: one of the vignette illustrations, this one of Melanie hurriedly putting on her pajamas…
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above: a spread illustration depicting Mom grooming the family dog, Bart, with Melanie looking on… and becoming just a bit jealous of all the attention he’s getting, not her.
click upper right corner of images to enlarge
above: one of the vignette illustrations, this one of Melanie dutifully brushing her teeth…