<p>Another bedtime battle is won in this bilingual text featuring the Latin-American bogeyman and his mother, both rendered here as decidedly cute and unfrightening elfin creatures with blue skin and spiky blue hair. Cucuy, the little monster, refuses to go to bed, behaving monstrously with screams and kicks, ugly faces, wiggles and jiggles and every sort of tantrum until mother declares "enough fuss." The now red-faced Cucuy finally agrees to count sheep and "get just a tiny bit of sleep." Coombs's deep, richly colored paintings bring out a typical child's surroundings (filled with a spirited assortment of monster dolls) and reflect his extreme remonstrations. The loosely rhyming English text is all-too-often forced ("Even in all that craze MamA is able to put him in his pj's"); it appears above a serviceable Spanish translation. When bedtime becomes a hideous affair, the outrageously grotesque behavior of one may spark a bit of realistic appreciation for many. (Picture book. 3-5)</p>

K-Gr 2 A fuzzy little blue monster fights with his mother as she tries to get him ready for bed. Cucuy screams and tries to hide as Mamá wrestles him into his pajamas and tucks him in. Finally, he resigns himself to counting sheep and quickly falls asleep. Parents and children of all cultural backgrounds will recognize this universal bedtime battle. Cucuy tells Mamá that he isn't sleepy: "All I want to do is jump around and play!" Meanwhile, Mamá tells him that "You need to rest," and that tomorrow is "a whole new day to jump around and play." Small children may giggle at the funny stuffed animals that separate the English and Spanish text blocks on each page. Unfortunately, the text's irregular rhythm and forced rhyme do not lend themselves to a soothing bedtime read-aloud; e.g., "Even in all that craze Mamá is able to put him in his pj's." Unlike the English text, the Spanish translation does not rhyme. Mary Landrum, Lexington Public Library, KY