Product Description

Even after a story, being tucked in, and warm milk, Sam is not ready to go to sleep until his mother kisses him good-night.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #81729 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-01
• Released on: 2001-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780763607807
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Every child has his or her own personal repertoire of rationalizations for avoiding bed, and every parent has a stockpile of counter offensives. In Kiss Good Night, Mrs. Bear covers all the bases: "Hmmmm...Book, blanket, friends, milk...," but her son, Sam, isn't ready. "I'm waiting," he keeps saying. Could there be anything Mama Bear is forgetting? Amy Hest's sweet story, gorgeously illustrated by Anita Jeram in warm, earthy greens, golds, browns, and reds, provides a rhythm to the bedtime ritual that will soon have sleep-fighting tots relinquishing their day to night. The comforting manner of easygoing Mrs. Bear as she comes up against her son's quiet resistance--even while the wind blows and rain comes down outside--is an antidote to nighttime anxiety. A perfect read-aloud from Hest (In the Rain with Baby Duck) and Jeram (illustrator of Sam McBratney's bestselling Guess How Much I Love You). (Ages 3 to 7) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly
Hest (When Jessie Came Across the Sea) pays tribute to reassuring bedtime rituals that assuage a toddler's fears even on a "dark and stormy night." Sam the bear cub will not go to sleep. "I'm waiting," he keeps telling Mrs. Bear, even though she's checked off everything on the bedtime list: book, blanket, friends (his stuffed toys) and milk. Then it dawns on Sam's mom that she's forgotten the kiss good night. Sam manages to coax a total of 10 goodnight kisses from Mom. With understated repetition and lyricism, Hest establishes the coziness of the nighttime interplay as well as the menacing sounds of the storm from inside Sam's bedroom: "Splat! on the roof. Splat! Splat! on the windows. The wind blew. Whoo, whoooo." Jeram moves from the light palette and breezy artwork in Guess How Much I Love You to thickly applied acrylic paintings. Her radiantly rendered ochre and rust shades translate easily from the autumn storm outside to the sturdy furniture and heavy wool blankets inside. While her characters' expressions seldom change, she uses their contrasting physical presence to great effect. The hulking Mrs. Bear is a literal bulwark of maternal devotion, while Sam's roly-poly poses comically communicate his coy devotion. Ages 2-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
reS-K-Hest begins this sweet bedtime tale with, "It was a dark and stormy night on Plum Street" and Jeram's luminous folk paintings show a small, worried bear peering out the window at the wind-hurled leaves. The scene switches to inside his bedroom, golden in the lamplight, where Mrs. Bear is trying to put her son to sleep. The repetitive phrasing in each sequence, bound to delight young ones, is: "`Ready now, Sam?' `Oh, no,' said Sam. `I'm waiting.'" Mrs. Bear wracks her brain for every detail of their bedtime routine. They read their favorite book. They arrange the youngster's stuffed animals and drink some warm milk, while the wind blows, "Whoo, whoooo." Finally Mrs. Bear thinks to ask, "what did I forget?" "You know," says Sam. And, after a moment's thought, she does-as will every child who has absorbed the title of the book. This is an enchanting little story, with homey illustrations that add to its appeal. It will be particularly reassuring to read aloud on those dark and stormy nights.

Susan Weitz, Tompkins County Public Library, Ithaca, NY

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Bedtime Made Special
It was a dark and stormy night. The wind blew, whoo, whooo. The rain hit against the roof and windows, splat, splat. But inside, Mama Bear is putting her cub to bed. "Ready now, Sam?" "Oh no," said Sam "I'm waiting." So mother begins all their nighttime rituals. First, they read a book together. She tucks Sam in, head to toe, with his red blanket and arranges his stuffed animal friends. Then they share a glass of milk. And still Sam tells her, "I'm waiting" What could Mrs Bear have forgotten. She thinks and goes back over her bedtime chores and then remembers. "Kiss goodnight, Sam." And she kisses him once, twice and then twice more..... Amy Hest has written a lovely bedtime story that's cozy and comforting and just perfect for pre-schoolers. Her simple, gentle, quiet text is beautifully illustrated by Anita Jeram's soft expressive earthtoned artwork. Kiss Good Night is a charming bedtime story that's sure to become a new favorite in your house and may help your little ones fall asleep with its easy familiar rituals.

An essential part of our nightly ritual
This is probably my favorite bedtime book in the world. My daughter got it for her second birthday and it has withstood being read at least twice a day since then. The illustrations are stunning, the simple rythym of the story is appealing to both the reader and the child. When she's ready to settle down in my lap she brings it over and starts reciting the lines, "Book, blanket, friends, milk..." over and over. It's one of the few books we both know by heart that I don't want to throw out the window, and has even surpassed Goodnight Moon on our list of keepers. I gave it to all children we know under the age of four for Christmas, and they (and their parents) all loved it, too.

An absolutely adorable book
I ordered this book in the first place based on its description. It was said to be about a bear who had a specific routine for bedtime and it could be no other way. It reminded me so much of my son that I had to have it. Well, I wasn't disappointed. My four year old and I thoroughly enjoy this book. We both laugh through the whole book while we read it. The illistration is beautiful and the story is so sweet. I would highly recommend this book for a carefree, fun story at bedtime.