★ 10/03/2016
Haughton (Shh! We Have a Plan) sets aside his characteristically loopy humor in order to lull young children to sleep. Even the colors are soft-pedaled. As a palette of incandescent colors fades from hot vermilion to deep indigo, a series of graduated pages describes, from small to large, the growing drowsiness in the forest as night falls: “The mice are sleepy... the hares are sleepy... the deer are sleepy.” Even Great Big Bear stretches and yawns. Only Little Bear resists: “Well, I’m not sleepy,” he declares. But the rest of the forest creatures are too tired to play with him, and as the pages grow ever darker, into magenta and violet, Little Bear starts yawning and stretching, too. Despite their stripped-down, angular construction, Great Big Bear and Little Bear convey a sense of furry realness—especially when Little Bear gets “a great big goodnight kiss” from Great Big Bear, a massive, comforting presence. Children listening to Haughton’s story might not fall asleep, but they’ll have to admit that it’s getting to be about that time. Ages 2–5. (Dec.)
Great Big Bear and Little Bear convey a sense of furry realness—especially when Little Bear gets “a great big goodnight kiss” from Great Big Bear, a massive, comforting presence. Children listening to Haughton’s story might not fall asleep, but they’ll have to admit that it’s getting to be about that time.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
The result builds on classic traditions (are the echoes of Goodnight Moon deliberate or just inevitable for the genre?) while offering the pleasure of originality. That’s what you look for in an bedtime ritual, and this is a ready-made one that families will relish adding to their oeuvre; both readers-aloud and listeners will find it hard to keep their eyes open long enough to finish the book.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)
An infectious bedtime story, sure to prompt yawns in readers and their preschool listeners as well.
—Kirkus Reviews
Preschoolers will get sleepy—very, very sleepy—as they make their way through the darkening, night-falling pages of Goodnight Everyone by Irish designer and illustrator Chris Haughton...If Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon doesn't do the trick, Goodnight Everyone will surely send the most stubbornly awake off to slumberland.
—Shelf Awareness for Readers
While the narrative is slight, Haughton’s beautiful scenes artfully carry the story...Cozy, comforting, and perfect for bedtime.
—Booklist
A return home to the big bear provides cozy closure for the little bear, and for the rest of the animals, too, as closing illustrations zoom out for the “goodnight everyone” ending. “The moon is high and everyone is fast asleep.”
—The Horn Book
Against these stunning backdrops his black-and-blue animals, at once satisfyingly bulky and marvelously expressive, tell a story as old as night. The conclusion is never in doubt, but the journey is full of magic.
—Chicago Tribune
Rendered in a Day-Glo palette that conjures visions of '80's video games, Haughton's book follows a small bear who's definitely not sleepy - even though all his friends are going to bed.
—Entertainment Weekly
11/01/2016
PreS-Gr 1—The sun is setting, and while the forest creatures feel the inevitable draw of slumber, Little Bear is wide awake. A fantastical purple and fuchsia woodland surrounds four mice, three hares, two deer, and Great Big Bear and her cub, Little Bear. In a series of introductory flaps, Haughton reveals how each animal group gets ready for bed, by establishing a simple pattern ideal for storytelling. Children will itch to join in as the mice yawn, the hares sigh, the deer take a deep breath, and Great Big Bear stretches. However, Little Bear does not feel sleepy and is determined to invite his friends to play. When sleep finally finds him, he follows the same path as the others: sighing, taking a deep breath, stretching, and yawning. Great Big Bear then gently carries him off to bed. Readers then say good night to each animal family in its home, starting with the mice. A dandelion appears, and a mouse's gentle snores blow seeds into the air. Dandelion seeds rise slowly into the sky on each subsequent page until the final page, where the moon is high and all are asleep. Small dots trail across the endpapers, too, like a continuation of the seeds and the animals' dreams. They soar around the southern and northern constellation maps to the forest shown on the earth in the solar system map. This is a charming addition about a dreamer's place within the wider world. VERDICT A stunning picture book for sharing during storytimes or quiet times before bed, this is a must for all collections.—Rachel Zuffa, Racine Public Library, WI
2016-08-17
When the sun sets and all the animals are sleepy, Little Bear is still wide awake, but finally, the cub too, yawns and, after a good-night kiss from Great Big Bear, drops off to sleep.Haughton’s deceptively simple narrative chronicles a series of animal yawns. Using digital color effects with masterful control, he gradually darkens his palette as day turns into night. Early pages are cut so that each group is revealed in turn on successively bigger spreads, from small to large: mice, hares, deer, and bears. These nongendered, stylized, blue and black animal shapes have large eyes, heavy-lidded or entirely closed except for those of wide-awake Little Bear. A strip of green grass along the bottom of each spread gradually darkens, white space shrinks and disappears, and the colors of the plants and trees turn from gold to red to a brownish purple. The artist runs through his spectrum again in the final pages: mice sleep against a green backdrop, hares under an orange sky, deer against pinky-reds, and the bears in a purple and black world. Polar-centered star maps on the endpapers might suggest a different kind of story and add a mythic dimension. In front are the Southern Hemisphere constellations; in the back, the Northern Hemisphere reveals the Great Bear and the Little Bear in the sky. An infectious bedtime story, sure to prompt yawns in readers and their preschool listeners as well. (Picture book. 1-5)
