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From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

The opening pages of this large trim-size picture book show a yawning parent brewing a cup of hot tea; on the opposite page, an energetic toddler stands with one foot in the fruit bowl while balanced on the coffee table, holding the pet cat overhead. The story begins: “It’s evening and Bo is being silly. He does tumblesaults on the sofa and sings as loud as he can.” Laughing, Mommy initiates bedtime, but Bo insists he’s already asleep. Perching on one leg on the edge of the sofa, Bo (presumably white) announces that he’s a parrot, explaining how the birds sleep balanced on one leg. Playing along, Bo’s mother invites the parrot to eat a bedtime snack, only to find that with a tummy full of blueberries and porridge, Bo has become a hibernating bear. The bear needs a wash, and in the bath, Bo becomes a sea otter. Playful parent-child dialog pairs with brightly colored, fluid-lined illustrations that blend the cozy interior of Bo’s home with his richly imagined animal fantasies. This translated treasure will undoubtedly inspire young readers to invent their own animal bedtime routine, complete with bedding as comfy as a mob of meerkats.     (Ages 3-7)

CCBC Choices 2023 © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2023. Used with permission.

From Kirkus

Starred review from October 15, 2022
Bedtime has never been so interesting! Bo, a light-skinned toddler with blond hair, has thoughts and ideas! Perhaps you know a toddler like him? Assuming positions that would make a well-trained yogi jealous, Bo plays on the couch surrounded by toy and pets. As evening approaches and Bo's mother starts the evening bedtime routine, Bo has his own plans. Instead of going to bed, Bo claims he is a parrot and stands on one leg. Bo's mother agrees and, joining in with his imaginative play, flies him off to the kitchen for his evening meal. He stuffs himself like a bear and attempts to hibernate under the kitchen table, but Mommy insists that he has to wash first. Then Bo becomes a sea otter and a walrus and so on until he's finally in bed asleep. Translated from Norwegian, the story is delightful and enforces how savvy caregivers can direct and encourage learning, even in quiet moments when children are brushing their teeth or climbing into bed. The mixed-media illustrations, however, steal the show. With a bold fluidity of hand-drawn lines, vibrant colors, and the occasional hint of the cheeky humor that made Maurice Sendak and Tomi Ungerer famous, Johnsen creates a lush world that children will want to study night after night. The combination of text and illustration transforms into something sublime. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Don't sleep on this book; it's magnificent! (Picture book. 4-8)

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From Publisher's Weekly

August 15, 2022
A child adopts different animals' nocturnal habits while winding down for bed in this fact-filled translation. Over the course of a pre-bed snack, bath time, tooth-brushing, and tuck-in, pink-skinned, blond-haired Mommy and child Bo insert wildlife-filled adventure into their routine. Once Bo gets the game started by standing on one leg like a sleeping parrot, Mommy continues, suggesting that in the bath Bo make like a walrus: "You can hook your long tusks over the ice and hang on. Then you won't float away," she says, prompting Bo to bite the tub. While Bo's restive antics provide a dash of goofiness, Mommy's dialogue takes a more educational slantâ€"emphasizing the why behind different critters' approaches to rest, from sea otters to bats to meerkats. Johnsen's multicolored drawings have a loosely rendered, busy feel; jam-packed domestic scenes overflow with creatures, toys, and a rambunctious energy that make this volume a "wild" read. Ages 3â€"8.

From Horn Book

July 1, 2022
"Bedtime!" is a call that can elicit groans of dread from young children and caregivers alike. While Bo performs "tumblesaults on the sofa and sings as loud as he can," his mother yawns in the background. When she beckons him for bed, he responds, "I'm already asleep!" A parrot, he argues, sleeps as he does -- standing on one foot. On the next spread vivid pinks, blues, and yellows cascade away from a parrot standing just like Bo on the previous page. Playing along, his mother offers her little parrot something to eat. With encyclopedic knowledge of many animals' sleeping habits, Bo's mother slowly but surely edges her clever offspring closer to his bed: getting a snack of blueberries and porridge before hibernating like a bear; washing up, stretching his neck like a giraffe in front of the bathroom mirror. Finally, Bo snuggles beneath a mound of brightly colored stuffed animals like a "mob of meerkats," and his mom lies, worn out, on the couch downstairs. Thin and energetic outlines delineate Bo and his mother from the many colorful creatures that surround them, creating a sense of before-bed chaos and blurring the lines between their home and the habitats they envision together. An imaginative, informative, and reassuring bedtime story; pair with Grimes and Zunon's Bedtime for Sweet Creatures (rev. 1/20). Grace McKinney

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)