One Minute Till Bedtime:

One Minute Till Bedtime:  60 Second Poems To Send You Off To Sleep selected by Kenn Nesbitt  art by Christoph Niemann          

Every poem in this book takes no longer than one minute to read or recite.   Honestly, I don’t think these would be fare for trying to get little ones to bed.   Many are funny and require or ignite the desire to participate with the activities mentioned so other than the rhythm of the verses lulling little ones to dreamland, I think some of these poems would cause little minds to go on alert playing along with what is being said or causing them to ask questions or make observations which in turn would keep those little brains on alert and working, maybe even laying there awake with the light turned out once the reader called it a night and bid them sweet dreams.    The poems are fun and really good conceptual pieces from everything to a floating horse to riding a unicorn across the sky.   From an octopus who is a one man/octopus band to Lemony Snicket’s version of count your blessing.   The World’s Longest Yawn to Adventures in Slumberland does tend to make one kind of drawsy or maybe it is just the word yawn that conjures one up.    Lovely, fun, read-aloud poems that introduce young ones to the genre of poetry so well that I think many would return to poetry because of its flow, rhyme and playful images.   Good job Kenn Nesbitt selecting such a varied group of writers to introduce to early readers/listeners and their adult readers.   Well done.