A review by mat_tobin
Goodnight Already! by Jory John
4.0
I've read a few of John Jory's books and I always feel, in the best possible way, he has half an eye on the adult reader as much as he does the child reader. In Goodnight Already! Bear, as is naturally the way of his kind, is so tired that he could sleeps for weeks, 'months even' whilst his neighbour, duck is busily reading '101 ways to stay awake' in the house next door.
And so begins a series of repeated interruptions from duck to try and engage his friend in some form of irritating form of play be it 'talk all night', 'make smoothies' or 'start a band'. With each visit, Bear becomes increasingly aggravated until it all gets too much.
The contrast in size between the great, heavy lumbering bear and the small, frenetic duck works well and Davies does wonders to set the tone with the use of block colours to set to contrast mood and heighten energy. It could be argued that with the punchline over, this is not a book for multiple re-readings but I think children will gleefully enjoy repeating watching bear's steady decline into sleep-deprived madness and duck's comical escapades.
And so begins a series of repeated interruptions from duck to try and engage his friend in some form of irritating form of play be it 'talk all night', 'make smoothies' or 'start a band'. With each visit, Bear becomes increasingly aggravated until it all gets too much.
The contrast in size between the great, heavy lumbering bear and the small, frenetic duck works well and Davies does wonders to set the tone with the use of block colours to set to contrast mood and heighten energy. It could be argued that with the punchline over, this is not a book for multiple re-readings but I think children will gleefully enjoy repeating watching bear's steady decline into sleep-deprived madness and duck's comical escapades.