Get Out of Bed!

Krystyna J. Higgins is the former book review editor for the Catholic
New Times.

After staying up to watch The Late Show (and much more), Amy won’t
wake up for school the next morning. Her brother yells in her ear; Dad
puts on “his sternest father voice”; mother tries polite cajoling.
Every strategy fails, and everyone is running late for the day’s
duties—until brother suggests carrying Amy to school, bed and all! At
school, Amy, though bodily present, continues to sleep her way through
reading, math, gym, lunch; in fact, she doesn’t wake up until the next
morning. When she finally does get to school in the accepted manner
(i.e., vertically), she discovers she may have started a trend!

Get Out of Bed! is vintage Munsch at his zaniest—a typical family
situation blown up to exaggeratedly comic proportions. There are the
usual ingredients: stubborn kids, chagrined adults, plenty of
read-it-aloud patterning, even “loud” typefaces. Alan and Lea Daniel
carry the craziness further, with boisterous illustrations that spill
across the pages. The pictures complement the text perfectly and careful
perusal of them yields countless amusing details. Recommended.