These days, author Lester Wong, a Chico pathologist and the father of three grown children, navigates the world of an empty nester alongside the children’s mom. But he remembers an earlier time when getting the little ones ready for bed filled the transition time with joyful songs and silly rhymes. That, he writes, “morphed into a bedtime book, and as every parent knows, a good bedtime book is worth its weight in gold.”
“Too BUSY For Bed!” (independently published, $27.99 in hardcover, $16.99 in softcover from Made in Chico or from store.bookbaby.com/book/too-busy-for-bed1), by L.K. Wong, features full-color, beautifully exuberant illustrations by Taiwanese-Australian artist (and medical doctor) Amy Lee (kookychooky.com).
“Did you say ‘Bed’?” the child says. “That clock is wrong! It should say, Time for FUN!” Why? “I’m not done; I need more time! Because Sometimes I am … Just … Too … Busy…. My evening’s just begun!”
Oh, the energy. “Sometimes, I am a Teapot, / I’m dancing all about, / This arm a waving handle, / That hand, a whistling spout!” Then it rains (or is the bath water running?). “Sometimes, I’m Itsy-Bitsy / and I’m climbing / up a spout, / It rains, it pours, / an old man snores, / I’m wet! / I whoosh right out!”
Jammies on, it’s time to jump on the bed and do a little exploring. “Away I run, you can’t catch me! / My little legs are quick! / But grown-up legs are faster still, / And long arms do the trick!”
Then, “my wiggle slows…. I’m safe and snug, / A Bug inside a rug.” And now a parent’s gentle rocking: “We’re all back home, down by the bay, / No jumping anymore, / While Mama keeps her quiet watch, / Some watermelons snore!” Of course they do. Dreams come, each “will be like new,” with a parental send off of “I Love You!”
A dreamily wonderful little book that will delight the little ones.
