Elliot's Noisy Night

Anne Hutchings, a former elementary-school teacher-librarian with the
Durham Board of Education, is an educational consultant.

It’s spring! Elliot is so anxious to get outside and start enjoying
the weather that he can’t wait for his friend to open the door.
Instead he takes a shortcut. By the time Socks arrives, Elliot is firmly
wedged in the letter slot. Unable to push or pull Elliot free, Socks
enlists the help of first Amy, then Paisley, Angel, and finally, the
cubs. Alas, Elliot remains stuck. Fortunately, the young moose remembers
how he managed to get into this predicament in the first place, and with
a good deal of wriggling and worming and twisting and turning manages to
maneuver his way out.

In Elliot’s Noisy Night Elliot shares his fears about the bumping,
whooshing, and whumping noises he heard during the night. His friends
jokingly dismiss his concerns, and Beaverton assures him that the noises
he heard were nothing to worry about—just the shutters and the furnace
and the fridge. Elliot, reassured, goes off to sleep, but then he hears
some new sounds—shuffle, thump, swish. What could be making these
noises? An Elliot-eating monster? Of course it’s his friends, who, not
as brave as they’d like to think, one by one crawl into bed with
Elliot for “the biggest sleepover ever” in his very noisy house.

Youngsters will readily relate to Elliot and his friends, and
Elliot’s Noisy Night would be particularly helpful to use with
children who are experiencing nighttime fears.

Andrea Beck’s charming illustrations are a delight. Exceptionally
detailed, they show every stitch in Socks and every hair in Elliot’s
fur. These are obviously stuffed toys, yet they are very real
characters.

Many children will already be familiar with Elliot from the television
series. For those who are not, what better way to introduce them to
these endearing characters than with these two delightful stories?
Highly recommended.