Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters - by Jane Yolen (Paperback)

About the Book

Beloved author Yolen scares up a new rhyming read-aloud about the snarfing, growling, snoring way that monsters go to bed. With wildly colorful illustrations full of whimsy and warmth, Murphy brings Yolen's gently rhyming tale to rambunctious life. Full color.

Book Synopsis

"There's plenty in this scary-sweet book to please children all year round." -- Kirkus Reviews

Creep, gurgle, crawl, tumble! Meet two young monsters who are far from scary -- they're too busy having fun. They go to school, play outside with their friends, and eat after-school snacks. But they also have a bedtime, whether or not they're ready for it! Young children and parents alike will find much to identify with as they follow these lovable little monsters getting ready for bed. With wildly colorful illustrations full of whimsy and warmth, Kelly Murphy brings Jane Yolen's gently rhyming tale to rambunctious life.

Review Quotes

More cute than creepy, this lullaby follows two monsters from classroom to bedtime routine. The narration benefits enormously from witty illustrations by Murphy, which abound in slithery, sinister asides.
--New York Times

This brief lullaby-story provides just-right toddler-sized chills... Silly going-to-sleep sounds such as "Growl / Gurgle / Burp" gently bring this soon-to-be popular book to an end. There's plenty in this scary-sweet book to please children all year round.
--Kirkus Reviews

The monsters look like they walked off a Maurice Sendak casting call, with their big, wobbly bodies and almost random sprinklings of horns, tentacles, and eyeballs. Yolen winds down her lullaby with night noises (Burp / Grrrr / Snarl / Snarf) that peter away as the two monstrous siblings finally conk out. Bedtime fare you can count on.
--Booklist

The book is filled with enough slap-dash action, humor, and gentle disobedience to keep readers eager for more readings--and probably not all that eager for sleep.
--Publishers Weekly

Though Halloween tales and lots of candy may keep kids far from their beds, sleep must come eventually. There is no better way to wind down trick-or-treaters than with Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters by children's book legend Jane Yolen... It's the perfect end to a spooky October day.
--BookPage

The biggest treats here are the details buried in Kelly Murphy's playful paintings of the monsters, more gentle, domesticated cousins of Maurice Sendak's classic wild things. Vocabulary words to read aloud include growl, burp, grrrr, and that all time parental favorite: Zzzzz.
--USA Today

Noteworthy for its wonderful art with cute horned and multi-eyed monsters playing like normal little kids stalling at bedtime and falling asleep after claiming "I'm not sleepy." A perfect bedtime read
with only a few words per page and monstrously clever illustrations.
--Houston Chronicle

About the Author

Jane Yolen is the author of more than 300 books for children and young adults, including the Caldecott-winning Owl Moon and the New York Times best-selling How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? With Candlewick, she is the editor of three collections of poems for children: Switching on the Moon: A Very First Book of Bedtime Poems; Here's a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry; and This Little Piggy: Lap Songs, Finger Plays, Clapping Games, and Pantomime Rhymes. She divides her time between Massachusetts and Scotland.

Kelly Murphy is the illustrator of Loony Little: An Environmental Tale. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.