Sleepy Time Olie - Hardcover

Parents can be forgiven for wondering what it is that appeals about William Joyce's Ping-Pong-headed space hero, Rolie Polie Olie. But read about him and his family to any child under five, and there's no doubting that the attraction of the Rolie Polie Planet is powerful. In this rhyming bedtime adventure, Olie waits for a goodnight story from Pappy (grandpa), but Pappy turns up late and befuddled after a nasty bonk on the head. Olie saves the day by creating a sort of funny ray. (The adult but not the child will be irritated at the inconsistencies here: in one illustration Olie is filling a bucket with tricks and treats, and in the next this has inexplicably become a bubble-gun; equally inexplicably, it's described as a ray-gun.) "Then Olie burst into the room / and with his ray dispelled the gloom. 'I made a Pappy pick-me-up / to help old Pappy ungrow up.'" Shakespeare it isn't, but small kids are better than we are at empathizing with characters whose very souls seem to be made from Ping-Pong balls too. They love it! (Ages 3 to 5) --Richard Farr

William Joyce is the author and illustrator of many best-selling and award-winning picture books, including Rolie Polie Olie, Snowie Rolie, Dinosaur Bob, Santa Calls, and George Shrinks. He is also the creator of the Emmy Award-winning series Rolie Polie Olie on the Disney Channel. William Joyce lives in Shreveport, Louisiana, with his lovely wife, Elizabeth, and their children, Jack and Mary Katherine. They also have a dachshund named Rose.