Dayle Ann Dodds

Perfect for a read-aloud bedtime story, The Prince Won't Go to Bed! is both fun and sweet (I especially love the fact that what the prince ultimately requires to be able to go to sleep and stay asleep is something as simple and as natural as a goodnight kiss). The illustrations are not necessarily all that much to my liking, but they do work very well in and for this story, and most children will likely be both captivated and enchanted by their bold expressiveness. I do not know wether many show more children will manage to catch the clever illustrated allusion to the well-known Princess-and-the Pea story (the stacked mattresses), but I thought this little touch of intertextuality ingenious (and enough to make this picture book a solid four star read for me).

The Prince Won't Go to Bed! is obviously first and foremost a bedtime story for younger children. However, I believe that this story might also be of benefit for discussing domestic/family situations and problems with older children (maybe even very young teenagers), issues such as bedtime (and children who do not want to go to bed, who make excuses not to go to bed, who refuse to go to bed); I could also well imagine this book being of use to a young babysitter faced with a similar dilemma (and of course, The Prince Won't Go to Bed! would be a great bedtime story when babysitting). show less

The prince won't go to bed in this rollicking bedtime story, with its rhyming (and rhythmic!) text: The castle was in trouble. / Nanny scratched her head. / "The king and queen are at the ball, / and the Prince won't go to bed!" Lord Gerty, Squire Frat, the castle Cook, the Royal Guard, and Lady Lorali all chime in with suggestions, from a bedtime bath to a soothing lullaby, but nothing works - until Princess Kate emerges from her own bedroom, and discovers what it is the Prince really show more wants...

Chosen as one of our April selections, over in the Picture-Book Club to which I belong, where our theme is "Royalty," The Prince Won't God to Bed is a book I would probably never have picked up on my own, but which I am glad to have encountered. Although I wouldn't say that it was an outstanding example of the bedtime story genre, its combination of entertaining story and exuberant collage illustrations make it a very appealing choice. show less

I really enjoyed this book. The pictures, language, and interactiveness made it a perfect book for children in pre-k through first grade. The pictures were very bright and colorful. The illustrator used a lot of reds and blues to brighten up the pages. They also covered the entire page, not just a small section. I also liked the language. The entire book rhymed. Each page took one ending to rhyme with in order for the circus man to find the pup. I also liked the interactiveness of the book. show more At the end of the book there is a 4 tiered flip up to find the pup that is stacked on top of 3 strong men. I read this book to one of my student's from the ELL internship and he loved it. He must have flipped up the flap 10 times. The purpose of this story is not exactly clear, but I think that the main purpose is to entertain. I was quite entertained by the childish and interactive aspect of the book. show less

This was a good children's literature book for a few reasons. First of all the characters were very likable and humorous. The main characters in the story were the little prince and all of the people that worked for him; these characters all kept the reader laughing and interested in the story. Nanny was very perplexed trying to figure out why the Prince wouldn't go to sleep and her actions and characteristics were well-developed. Another aspect of this book that made it enjoyable was the show more writing. The entire book was written in rhyme and the line " 'Waa! Waa! Waa! I will not go to bed!' the teeny-tiny, itty-bitty, little Prince said." was repeated very often. This pattern made the story flow easily and helped the reader follow the story better. I loved all of the rhymes and the royal vocabulary such as "Lord" and "Duchess." Using vocabulary like this is good because it helps children learn the words used in royalty. The big message sent by this book was that sometimes the solution to a problem can be very simple, you just have to know where to look for it. It was a very cute story about a little Prince and was definitely well-written. show less