Parents' Guide to The Prince Won't Go to Bed!

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Common Sense Media Review

Patricia Tauzer By Patricia Tauzer , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 4+

Rhyming romp sure to be a favorite bedtime read.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 4+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

What's the Story?

When the Prince refuses to go to sleep, everyone in the castle tries a new remedy for getting him to bed. Nothing works until his sister Princess Kate solves the problem with a very simple secret.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say : Not yet rated
Kids say : Not yet rated

Dayle Ann Dodd has the timing of a stand-up comedian, and Kyrsten Brooker accents it all with her masterful artwork. Together, parent and child can have fun chanting the repeating parts while searching the vibrant collages that fill the pages. Kids, especially those who resist going to bed at night, will enjoy this story, and parents will love reading it aloud, over and over again as they put their own reluctant sleeper to bed.

Coming up with a bedtime routine that works smoothly is certainly not a new theme in children's literature, nor a new challenge in real life. Most parents are quite familiar with the problem, and most have searched for book after book to soothe their restless sleepers. Happily, here is one more bedtime book that is well worth reading. THE PRINCE WON'T GO TO BED is a wonderfully artistic, funny, poetic bedtime book that presents a lighthearted look at a bedtime ritual gone wrong. Kids will love its rhyming, rhythmic language, the pacing, and the playful repetition of phrases as one scenario after another fails to calm the Prince and the "Waa! Waa! Waa's" begin anew.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about bedtime routines. What helps you get to sleep, and what keeps you awake? What do you think of the different things people do to help the Prince get comfortable?

Book Details

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