One Down, One to Go: Back to Bed, Ed! by Sebastien Braun

EVERY NIGHT ED LOVED GETTING READY FOR BED.

BUT HE DIDN'T STAY IN BED.

When the toddler's bedroom door becomes a revolving door, life is tough for parents.

Little Ed's Mom and Dad definitely give the snoozetime ritual their personal best. Dad flies Ed, clad in a red superhero cape, through the air toward the bathroom for tooth brushing and his nightly bubble bath. Mom goes all out for the bedtime story, and both parents tuck Ed in with the kiss, kiss, night night, sleep tight ritual. The night light is on, his lovey bunny is waiting on his pillow, and at last the light clicks off.

Tip toe. Tip toe.

"DAD! IT'S TOO DARK IN MY ROOM!"

And when morning comes all too soon for the weary parents, Ed is snoozing fine, with his head on Mom's pillow and his feet in Dad's face, but Mom and Dad drag through the next day on too little sleep. Dad issues an ultimatum, pointing out that big brother Ed is a big mouse now who can STAY in his own bed. But then...

Tip toe tip toe.

"MOM! THERE ARE MONSTERS IN MY BEDROOM!"

By now Mom and Dad are desperate enough to fasten their door and hang a CLOSED sign on their knob. Even their baby, heretofore sleeping through the midnight rambles in her crib at the foot of their bed, is beginning to wake up for the nightly negotiation session.

But then... maturity suddenly sinks in. Perhaps Ed begins to believe that he is a big mouse now. At any rate, he comes up with his own plan for combating bedtime loneliness. Gathering all his stuffed animals together in his bed, he promises them that they needn't worry because they have a big mouse to keep them from being scared.

Have Mom and Dad won the battle of bedtime at last?

Well, yes and no. Ed sleeps solo through the night, but the baby...? Now that's another story--Bedtime Battle, The Sequel.

Noted artist Sebastien Braun offers simple but telling text and lets his sweet and expressive India ink and marker illustrations tell a sleepytime saga which is sure to get a chuckle out of both youngsters and parents in his latest, Back to Bed, Ed (Peachtree, 2010).