There's a Dinosaur on the 13th Floor

by Wade Bradford, Kevin Hawkes (Illustrator)

Overview

The outcome is anything but predictable when an exhausted hotel guest sets out in search of sleep in this kid-pleasing romp full of visual humor.

Will Mr. Snore ever get some shut-eye at the busy Sharemore Hotel? The room on the first floor is too noisy. The room on the second floor is too crowded. The room on the third floor is too damp. Everywhere Mr. Snore goes, with a dutiful bellhop leading the way, he encounters something that’s bound to keep him awake. Why is it so hard to find some peace and quiet? Perhaps Mr. Snore will have better luck on the thirteenth floor. . . . From author and playwright Wade Bradford and award-winning illustrator Kevin Hawkes comes a laugh-out-loud tale that plays with expectations and revelations — and reveals a surprisingly thought-provoking final twist.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536245776
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	09/30/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	134 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Wade Bradford teaches English at Moorpark College and is the author of Why Do I Have to Make My Bed? and Around the World in a Bathtub. Along with picture books, he has written more than thirty-five plays. Wade Bradford lives in southern California, where he enjoys "napping, snoozing, and occasionally snoring."

Kevin Hawkes is the illustrator of many books for children, including the award-winning Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen; A Little Bitty Man and Other Poems for the Very Young by Marilyn Nelson, Pamela Espeland, and Halfdan Rasmussen; and The Three Mouths of Little Tom Drum by Nancy Willard. Kevin Hawkes lives with his family in southern Maine.

About Me:
I grew up in a pretty creative family. I have three brothers and one sister. There was a lot of music in our house, as well as books and homemade projects like toothpick sculptures, paper-mâché pinatas, and wooden models. We spent a lot of time outdoors. Wherever we lived, my siblings and I went exploring. We built tree forts and hideouts. I loved watching animals, insects, and turtles.

I moved a lot when I was little and have lived in Europe and many parts of the United States. Europe left a huge impression on me. Climbing winding staircases in castle towers and exploring ancient forests gave me a sense of history and adventure.

In school, I was that quiet kid who liked to read. In the third grade I fell in love with chapter books like Freddy the Detective, The Borrowers, and The Great Brain. My parents loved books, too, and I liked being read to almost more than anything else. I also drew a lot. I liked to draw spaceships, race cars, castles, and monsters. I didn’t like to draw cats or bicycles. A cat riding a bicycle is still a hard thing for me to draw!
Today I live in Southern Maine with my wife and children. Our family loves to make things, and there are lots of projects going on all the time. Wood carving, weaving, sewing, gardening, and blacksmithing are all skills that inspire me.

About My Work:
Becoming an illustrator seemed like the way to combine reading and drawing. Bringing stories to life is so exciting! My illustrations come mostly from my imagination. I love to paint brilliant blue skies and use unusual perspectives.

Using my sense of humor to make kids and adults smile makes me happy. I love the idea of my books being read to children at bedtime. Books are such a peaceful end to sometimes hectic days.


Three Things About Me:
1) I don’t think I have ever fallen asleep during a movie.
2) My bicycle has thick tires and a wire basket on the front big enough to hold a bag of groceries.
3) I have a dog who eats socks.

Editorial Reviews

08/20/2018
Bulbous-nosed musician Mr. Snore stifles a yawn as he checks into the posh Sharemore Hotel in this droll story by Bradford (Around the World in a Bathtub). When the bellhop escorts him to a room, he swaps his tuxedo for pajamas—without removing his bow tie—and is vexed to find a mouse in his bed. Mr. Snore demands a new room (“Somebody is sleeping on my pillow”), and the bellhop shows him to one on the next floor, where he discovers he’s sharing a bed with a pig (who hogs the covers). The bellhop’s unflappability comically contrasts the hotel guest’s escalating exasperation as they climb the stairs to one room after another, encountering dangling spiders, giraffes, and a mazelike hamster colony. Finally, Mr. Snore is able to do just that, curled up in an enormous bed belonging to the title character (“Somebody is sleeping on my pillow!”). Acrylic and ink pictures by Hawkes (Imagine That!) amplify the tale’s humor with such playful flourishes as snakes wrapped around the art-deco hotel’s pillars, a rodent perched on a chandelier, and Mr. Snore and the dinosaur’s matching pince-nez and bunny slippers. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

The bellhop’s unflappability comically contrasts the hotel guest’s escalating exasperation as they climb the stairs to one room after another, encountering dangling spiders, giraffes, and a mazelike hamster colony...Acrylic and ink pictures by Hawkes (Imagine That!) amplify the tale’s humor with such playful flourishes as snakes wrapped around the art-deco hotel’s pillars, a rodent perched on a chandelier, and Mr. Snore and the dinosaur’s matching pince-nez and bunny slippers.
—Publishers Weekly

A fun addition to bedtime-themed books that is perfectly suited for one-on-one or small group sharing.
—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

10/01/2018
PreS-Gr 1—Readers will notice early on that there is something a bit unusual about the Sharemore Hotel. When an exhausted Mr. Snore checks in, he doesn't notice the twin snakes wrapping around the front desk's posts and heads straight for his bed on the first floor. He is nonplussed to find a mouse asleep on his pillow. When he calls to complain, the bellhop explains that the mouse has had a rough day and suggests a room on the second floor, which turns out to be occupied by a pig. Unsatisfactory rooms abound right up to the 13th floor where Mr. Snore finds an empty, quiet place with absurdly large accommodations. He promptly falls asleep. The final call to the bellhop comes from the rightful inhabitant of the 13th floor: a dinosaur unhappy about finding Mr. Snore asleep in his bed. Acrylic and ink illustrations show a cheerful bellhop and a growing assortment of creatures congregating at the front desk of the Sharemore Hotel. VERDICT A fun addition to bedtime-themed books that is perfectly suited for one-on-one or small group sharing.—Kelly Roth, Bartow County Public Library, Cartersville, GA

School Library Journal

2018-07-30

This hotel is for the birds! (And spiders, mice, pigs….)

Mr. Snore, a very tired musician whose face looks like one colossal nose, checks into the Sharemore Hotel one evening. Sadly, the rooming accommodations on the first floor are not up to Mr. Snore's standards, as the bed is already occupied by a small mouse sleeping on the pillow. The bellhop, who bears a passing resemblance to Tintin, relocates Mr. Snore to the second floor, where he finds a covers-hogging hog. This pattern repeats with each floor until Mr. Snore reaches the 13th and the titular dinosaur. At this point, the joke turns, and it is the annoyed dino who requests a new room when it finds Mr. Snore snoozing on its pillow. The book ends with the exhausted dinosaur sleeping in the lobby with the bellhop. Overall, the execution is fair, if a tad bland. While the page turns reveal each new animal, the preceding images don't give much in the way of hints as to what they will be, denying young readers a chance to develop their predictive skills. Some of the rooms' doors are fancifully styled to match their inhabitants, but most are plain—a missed opportunity. The acrylic-and-ink illustrations are amusing enough, but the caricature of Mr. Snore and his schnoz is an odd choice. Both Mr. Snore and the bellhop are white.

Make reservations elsewhere. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews