Nighty-Night, Cooper

by Laura Numeroff, Lynn Munsinger (Illustrator)

Overview

When it's time for good night, don't just close your eyes! Mama and Cooper have a sweet surprise. With new songs to sing (you may know the tunes . . . ), Bedtime is special for these kangaroos.           Cooper just can't fall asleep! But Mama has an idea. Setting new stories to familiar tunes, Mama shares six new lullabies with her not-so-sleepy son. Which Kanga will be the first one to dreamland?      This merry story—with original lullabies—was created by the talented author of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Laura Numeroff. The sonorous text is paired with art by illustrator Lynn Munsinger—known for her kid-friendly characters like Tacky the Penguin and Wodney Wat. Pair this with Lots of Lambs for another Numeroff/Munsinger treat!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780547402055
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/10/2013
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	646,548
Product dimensions:	8.66(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.36(d)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Laura Numeroff is the author of many books for young children, including If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, What Mommies Do Best/What Daddies Do Best, and The Jellybeans and the Big Dance. She lives in Los Angeles, CA.

Lynn Munsinger has illustrated more than ninety books for children, many written by her frequent collaborator, Helen Lester. She lives in Vermont.

Hometown:

Brentwood, California

Date of Birth:

July 14, 1953

Place of Birth:

Brooklyn, New York

Education:

B.F.A. with honors, Pratt Institute, 1975; attended Parsons College, 1975

Website:

http://www.lauranumeroff.com

Editorial Reviews

Cooper is a small kangaroo who can’t get to sleep. When mama kangaroo responds with her own pastiche of “Rock-a-bye Baby” (“There’s a pig sailing/ in a small boat/ Going so slowly/ Floating along”), Cooper realizes he’s onto a delaying tactic and asks for more homemade songs; his request to “Please sing the one about the sky that I like” is met with a version of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” that celebrates the shapes of clouds. This homegrown Tin Pan Alley finally closes up shop for the night, but not before Cooper offers up a reengineered lullaby of his own: a sheep-counting variation of “Lullaby and Good Night.” Numeroff strikes just the right balance of silly and sweet as she injects fresh thinking into six musical chestnuts, and her easy-to-learn ditties make it simple for parents and children to serenade one another at bedtime. As always, Munsinger’s anthropomorphized animals are quietly marvelous, exuding tenderness, sly comedy, and astute observation. Readers of all ages will take one look at the initial image of the insomniac Cooper and want to know more. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"As lullabies go, the familiar tunes with the new lyrics may just keep sleepyheads entertained for a few go-rounds, and sleep can wait."
—Kirkus

"Numeroff strikes just the right balance of silly and sweet as she injects fresh thinking into six musical chestnuts . . . As always, Munsinger's anthropomorphized animals are quietly marvelous, exuding tenderness, sly comedy, and astute observation."
—Publishers Weekly

"This offering by a well-known duo is sure to become a well-known, well-sung favorite."
—Booklist

"A witty conclusion will leave both adults and children smiling."
—School Library Journal
—

From the Publisher

PreS-K—Mother Kangaroo establishes a ritual of singing lullabies to young Cooper before bedtime. However, like any typically energetic child, the joey has difficulty settling down: "I can't sleep." But his mama presses on, creating her own verses to six childhood favorite melodies such as "Rock-a-Bye Baby" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," as Cooper keeps asking for another. Rhymed couplets that read aloud easily move the story along between the clever ditties. Comforting illustrations show soft curving lines of text as well as gestures of warm hugs on the couch, amid the exuberant antics of Cooper, who is pictured climbing on the back of the sofa and holding a toy sailboat. A witty conclusion will leave both adults and children smiling. Although bedtime stories are in abundance, this one is a winner.—Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA

School Library Journal

Despite his mama's inviting, warm pouch, Cooper, a young kangaroo, is having trouble falling asleep. He requests a few lullabies. So his mother does some inventive thinking and comes up with a few variations on themes: There is a nice turn on "Rock-a-Bye Baby," and another on "The Farmer in the Dell." "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" gets a modest noodling, and, strangely, perhaps the best is "Jingle Bells": "Daddy bear, baby bear, / Dancing everywhere / They dance all day / Until it's night / And then they brush their hair! / Oh, dance all day / Dance all night / Dance until you doze / Daddy and his baby bear / Can dance up on their toes." As mother starts drifting into her own dreamland, young kangaroo is still firing on at least three cylinders. Finally, he succumbs, and everyone can get some sleep. The text is dear in the extreme but has enough warmth not to be saccharine, but Munsinger's artwork lifts the work to a higher ground. She can capture a look--on the first page, Cooper looks absolutely blasted, fighting slumber like Wellington fought Napoleon--as surely as George Stubbs caught horses. As lullabies go, the familiar tunes with the new lyrics may just keep sleepyheads entertained enough for a few go-rounds, and sleep can wait. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews