Good Night, Baddies

Get to know the softer side of your favorite fairy tale baddies as they return home from a full day of scheming to enjoy a yummy dinner together and help one another get ready for bed. Wolves, today was not so good. You didn't catch Red Riding Hood. You huffed and puffed without success. But brush your fangs, please, nonetheless. Wicked witches. Evil queens. And big, bad wolves. By day they're such baddies! But cozy at night at home among friends? Why, they couldn't be nicer! Inspired by the mischief-makers from classic folk and fairy tales, this picture book shows that even the baddest baddies can have big hearts.

After a full day of scaring, all the bad guys from various fairy and folk tales head home to bed. The "baddies" meet each other at the castle they all call home, trading notes on how their days went and finally having a chance to "chat and smile." These aren't the evil versions we know from traditional stories; instead, these villains are quite pleasant. Some baddies pertain to specific stories, while others are generic witches and dragons. The rhyming text combined with illustrations that allude to classic tales calls to mind Janet and Allan Ahlberg's Each Peach Pear Plum. One drawback is that younger children who will love the bouncing rhythm and sweetly-drawn characters may not have been exposed to all of the tales referred to in this story, leading to confusion, while older readers might be turned off by what is essentially a going-to-bed book. Still, the rhymes and full-spread illustrations make this a near-perfect read aloud for the right audience. Recommended--School Library Connection "August 2016"

Deborah Underwood is the author of numerous books for kids, including the Caldecott Honor book Outside In and the New York Times bestsellers The Quiet Book, The Loud Book, and Here Comes the Easter Cat. She lives in Northern California with her feline muse, Bella. Visit her at DeborahUnderwoodBooks.com. Juli Kangas grew up in Kansas City. After graduating from Kansas University, she worked for several years as a designer for Hallmark Cards, Inc., right there in her hometown. She then lived for four years in The Netherlands, where she began her freelance career, and enjoyed traveling around Europe, especially seeking out any opportunity to explore medieval villages and castles. The next phase was settling in Texas with two children to raise. She continued as a freelance illustrator, and her work included the children's books Photographer Mole, Theodore, and A Child's Book of Prayers. She also wrote and illustrated The Surprise Visitor.