One Minute till Bedtime

Starred review from October 17, 2016
Former Children’s Poet Laureate Nesbitt compiles a dizzyingly creative assortment of new bedtime-ready poems, each of which can be read in less than a minute. Calef Brown, Margarita Engle, J. Patrick Lewis, Marilyn Singer, and Lemony Snicket are among dozens of contributors, whose works vary widely in tone, form, and subject. Niemann’s minimalistic illustrations—rendered in muted shades of blue, brown, and green—accentuate each poem. In Ron Koertge’s “Bedtime on 7th Avenue,” where “Even graffiti opens its loud neon mouth and yawns,” Niemann shows a water tower snoozing on its side. And in Nina Laden’s ode to a chameleon (“Of all the kinds of lizards/ He’s really quite a wizard”), the reptile is snugly incorporated into a thickly outlined jigsaw puzzle. With a broad range of voices and sentiments, the collection delivers poems to meet any mood. Ages 4–8.

Starred review from October 15, 2016
A substantial compilation of new poems for children by over 130 poets.The opening salvo of former Children's Poet Laureate Nesbitt's hefty anthology of "60-second" poems designed to send children "off to sleep" lets the cat out of the bag as to what bedtime's really about. Having performed basic end-of-day tasks ("Had a bath and / brushed my teeth; / those on top / and underneath") and prepped for a good night's sleep, Nesbitt's speaker rejoices: "All that's done; / at last I'm freed. / Finally, / it's time to read." Here, as throughout the collection, Niemann's boldly inked drawing of a teddy bear's free-fall dive into the waiting pool of an open book succinctly and suggestively captures the spirit of the accompanying poem--and, in this case, the entire anthology. Presented with over 140 new poems by many of today's most prominent children's poets (Mary Ann Hoberman, Margarita Engle, Jack Prelutsky, Ron Koertge, Nikki Grimes), readers are treated to lyric nighttime reflections on topics as disparate as relationships with favorite pets or grandparents, beloved "toasty, warm jammies," and one's blankie--"old and manky." There's also plenty of nonsense verse sure to inspire wild dreaming "on the road to morning." These pithy poetic observations and Niemann's engaging illustrations prove at once antidote and anodyne for the sleep-averse child demanding just one more.... A dreamy collection of bedtime poems and witty illustrations that's anything but sleepy. (Poetry. 4-10)

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Starred review from November 1, 2016

K-Gr 4-This charming compendium holds a wide variety of poetic forms and emotions, from bits of "concrete" to slices of doggerel, from bursts of giggles to slathers of joy-and with a star-studded cast that includes the likes of Nikki Grimes, Marilyn Singer, Jon Scieszka, and more, it's bound to be a lasting contribution to collections. All the pieces are rather short in length-perfect for those bedtime or read-aloud pleas of "just one more!" Poems where moon mice "know the moon is made of cheese," seagulls throw parties "but never cook, ever," and sleepy weeds "lean against each other" are sure to enchant adults and children alike. VERDICT Exuberant for the most part (with some serious musings to lend ballast) and in perfect harmony with its cartoonish, color-washed illustrations, this sleepy-time volume is just the thing for the rhyme-loving child who has graduated from Mother Goose.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2017
A former Children's Poet Laureate has compiled over 120 short and engaging poems by an impressive number of today's children's writers. Here you won't find the old-standbys (Robert Louis Stevenson, Eleanor Farjeon)--these are contemporary children's poets and poems, and even a few writers who aren't generally thought of as poets, such as Jon Scieszka and Lemony Snicket. Familiar authors including Jane Yolen, Jack Prelutsky, and Janet Wong appear alongside many lesser-known poets, so the collection as a whole feels very fresh. The volume is broken into six sections, each led by one of Nesbitt's poems. ("What Do You Dream?": "Teddy bear, teddy bear, / what do you dream?") Poems about bedtime, sleeping, being tucked in, the night, and the moon make up about a quarter of the collection, and in between appears an eclectic selection of pieces arranged naturally to flow from one to another. Niemann's illustrations are color-coded to each section, with his energetic, often funny line drawings sometimes in reverse (lighter color set against dark background), effectively conveying the night. Nonsense poems, wordplay, nature, whimsy, and tenderness all mix together here in a collection that families with children from preschool through primary grades and beyond will enjoy reading together before bed. susan dove lempke

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