From the Publisher
Scaredy never sleeps — sleep might mean bad dreams about dragons, ghosts, vampire bats and polka-dot monsters. Our wide-eyed hero has a plan: stay awake all night, every night. Between counting stars, playing cymbals and making scrapbooks, he does a good job of avoiding dreamland.
With exhaustion taking its toll, Scaredy comes face-to-face with an alarming horoscope prediction: All his dreams are about to come true!
He must prepare for the worst and his Bad Dream Action Plan includes a fire extinguisher to snuff out dragons and a fan to blast away ghosts. But when disaster strikes, will Scaredy survive this ordeal? Will he thank his lucky stars? Will he find sweet dreams?
Scaredy Squirrel at Night tackles a fear everyone — and especially the young — can relate to. It’s a bedtime story to make light of kids’ fear of the dark and a fable for our sleep-deprived society.
Publishers Weekly
Confronting his phobias one step at a time, Scaredy Squirrel, in his fourth adventure, "never sleeps" because he is so worried that he might have bad dreams about any number of creatures, which include dragons, fairies, ghosts, unicorns, vampire bats and "polka-dot monsters." Suffering from sleep deprivation, Scaredy decides it's time to confront his fears. Though armed with an arsenal of supplies, among them "cupcakes" and "safety cones," his "Bad Dream Action Plan" has unexpected results. Scaredy, with his oversized head and wide set of pearly whites, continues to radiate personality. Ages 4-8. (Apr.)
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Children's Literature
Scaredy Squirrel never sleeps because he is afraid of ghosts, unicorns, vampire bats, and polka-dot monsters. He tries everything from scrap-booking to counting stars to occupy the long nighttime hours. Then he reads his horoscope and learns that, at midnight, all of his dreams will come true. This silly squirrel prepares to trap the monsters with molasses, cupcakes, and banana peels while he hides behind a spotlight, but he only attracts hungry animals. The only course of action left is to play dead, which Scaredy Squirrel attempts, only to finally fall asleep. After a good night's sleep, Scaredy is rested and alert. He plans to give up horoscopes and rely on fortune cookies instead. The clever and busy illustrations will delight youngsters as they follow along with Scaredy's humorous attempts to overcome his fears. Reviewer: Shirley Nelson
School Library Journal
K-Gr 2—Children will be delighted as Scaredy Squirrel attempts to face his fear of falling asleep because of bad dreams, and they'll laugh at his absurd lists and action plans. Although the ending is predictable, youngsters will sigh with relief as he finally nods off. The layout includes multiple images as he makes lists and carries out his plans to stay awake all night. The cartoon illustrations, rendered digitally in Photoshop, capture the action and are filled with humorous details. This could be a useful title for guiding children in developing lists and action plans. It would be interesting to see how they would ward off bad dreams.—Margaret R. Tassia, Millersville University, PA
Kirkus Reviews
A great, big glow-in-the-dark grin greets readers on the cover of this latest visit with North America's favorite shrinking violet. "Scaredy Squirrel never sleeps. He'd rather stay awake than risk having a bad dream in the middle of the night." All sorts of ghastly intruders could visit: ghosts, fairies (menacingly buck-toothed), polka-dot monsters (a great V of a frown poised over its one eye)-you name it. In accordance with the now-familiar formula, Scaredy develops a series of bizarre strategies to fend off sleep (scrapbooking "keeps you well-organized and productive"), assembles an emergency kit and devises a "Bad Dream Action Plan" that includes using molasses to slow down vicious unicorns. The panels and diagrams will be familiar to any of Scaredy's fans (Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach, 2008, etc.), as will the timorous squirrel's eventual "solution." Familiarity doesn't breed contempt, though, as Watt has honed in on a nearly universal childhood fear; kids afraid of the nighttime will recognize themselves, and the sweet silliness with which Scaredy approaches his fear will make them laugh even as it eases them to nightmare-free slumber. (Picture book. 4-8)
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