Albie the warthog doesn’t want to go to bed

 

Bedtime for Albie

Written and illustrated by Sophie Ambrose

Candlewick Press, 2019

Most children can relate to Albie the warthog in “Bedtime for Albie.” His mommy tells him it is time for bed, but he doesn’t want to go to bed.

He runs from one friend to the next trying to find someone to play with him. The baby cheetahs won’t run races with him because they’re listening to their bedtime story.

The elephants won’t play splish-and-splash because they’re having their bedtime shower. The meerkats won’t dig holes with him because they’re too sleepy.

It is getting dark and Albie begins to feel nervous. He hears rustling and scratching, and  asks, “Who’s there?”

Snake says, “It’s just me!”

Then he’s frightened by two big eyes staring at him from the bushes.

Owl speaks up and asks him, “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

Albie decides he doesn’t want to play by himself anymore. He just wants his mommy. He wanders and sniffs the ground until he finds a familiar, wet, muddy smell.

The hippos offer to take him home, and he rides on a hippo’s back the rest of the way home.

Finally, Albie tells Mommy he’s ready for bed.

She is pleased, but tells him first he needs to take a mud bath. He rolls around, splishing and splashing, and having a wonderful time. His friends hear him and come to join him.

They have the “gloopiest, splashiest, noisiest mud bath party” until it really is bedtime for Albie and he falls asleep lying on top of his mommy.

Ambrose’s soft watercolor and colored pencil illustrations help make this a warm bedtime story for youngsters.

About the Author/Illustrator:

Sophie Ambrose teaches illustration to children and adults when she’s not working on her own projects. She is the author-illustrator of “The Lonely Giant,” Candlewick Press, 2016. She lives in London.