Sleep Tight, Platypup

Sleep Tight, Platypup written & illustrated by Renee Treml (Puffin Books) HB RRP $19.99 ISBN 9780143789796

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

Baby platypus wakes at night and cries for his mother. He’s scared of the darkness. Happily, Mummy appears and hugs him, telling him it’s just the night. She takes him outdoors and asks him what he sees. Of course, there is the moon and stars, trees and the family burrow, all familiar to both mother and son.

When the trees rattle and boom and the grass crinkles and crackles, Platypup is again scared. Once more his mother draws his attention to the noises that he can hear that are familiar – grasses shifting in the wind, leaves whispering… ‘just like the do during the day’, and of course that’s not scary.

This is a very simple picture book which could surely calm a child aged 3 to 5 years who has night fears. The illustrations of mother and son are executed in black and white like lino prints with muted backgrounds of purples and blues. There’s not a lot of visual interest and the platypus don’t always look faithfully rendered with the bills sometimes looking like duck bills. The depiction of platypus standing upright are invalid, too. It’s a shame that the illustrations aren’t as interesting as the written text.

Good Night, Sleep Tight

Good Night, Sleep Tight by Mem Fox, illustrated by Judy Horacek (Scholastic Australia)
HB RRP $19.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-257-9
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

It is bedtime, and Bonnie and Ben are told a goodnight rhyme by their favourite babysitter Skinny Doug. When they request it again he replies ‘No’:
“But I’ll tell you another
I heard from my mother:”
and he recites another rhyme.

Where is the Green Sheep? is a long time favourite and it is great to see another book by this author/illustrator combination. Mem Fox is always a joy to read aloud and Good Night, Sleep Tight is especially fun with its changing rhythm and pace - from the text of the main story, to the nursery rhymes and back to Bonnie, Ben and Skinny Doug.

The illustrations by Judy Horacek are bright and energetic. She blends beautifully the world of Bonnie and Ben with the action of the nursery rhymes by involving the children in the rhyming worlds. Bonnie’s stuffed horse becomes their steed in This is the Way the Ladies Ride, and the children, along with their babysitter, ride into the picture at the end of the line of ‘ladies, gentlemen and farmers’. Horacek also manages to balance the lively illustrations and characters with the bedtime atmosphere.

Good Night, Sleep Tight has great rhyme, rhythm and repetition. Young children will find familiarity in the seven classic nursery rhymes such as Good Night, Sleep Tight, Pat-a-Cake and It’s Raining, It’s Pouring, as recited by Skinny Doug. The characters are fun and engaging and the message, of stories before sleep, is beautifully and simply portrayed. It makes a wonderful bedtime story for the under fives.