Get Out of Bed!

Opening with a slice-of-life scenario--Amy stays up till the wee morning hours watching TV and then cannot wake up for school--this paper-over-board book by the author of Love You Forever takes a preposterous twist. Amy's brother, father and mother, unable to rouse the sleepyhead and unable to stay home with her, carry her bed to school and deposit it (and her) in her classroom. The Daniels, who previously collaborated with Munsch for Good Families Don't, squeeze the humor out of this outlandish situation with rowdy cartoon pictures populated by near-caricatures. As the Daniels have it, Amy's classmates pile onto her bed during reading period (each with a copy of this book, opened to the very page its readers are on); use her as a table at lunch and as home plate during a recess ball game; and paint designs on her headboard, pillows and face in art class. After bounding out of bed the next day, the well-rested gal arrives at school to discover that her classroom is filled with beds, hammocks and sleeping bags... all inhabited by kids, a sight to which the illustrators do comic justice. This light book may not be one youngsters will feel compelled to return to repeatedly, yet it is punchy slapstick fun. Ages 3-6. (Sept.)