Official Review: After The Goodnights Are Said

MarisaRose · Post by **MarisaRose** » 10 Apr 2018, 07:55

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "After The Goodnights Are Said" by Shawn Hudson.]

2 out of 4 stars

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After The Goodnights Are Said by Shawn Hudson is a short children’s picture book. The book depicts a group of cute monsters and the mischief they get up to at night, after children go to bed. The book is full of various illustrations of the monsters doing all sorts of silly things, like texting on a cell phone and reading a book. At about sixteen pages long and with few words per page, this book is short enough to be read to young children all in one sitting.

The language used in the book is simplistic and typical of a children’s picture book geared towards a younger age range. The author utilizes rhymes throughout the short narrative, and most rhymes are successful and easy to comprehend, like when ‘told’ is rhymed with ‘hold.’ However, as the story progresses, the rhymes become a bit more forced, like when ‘phone’ is rhymed with ‘warzone.’ Generally speaking, the simplistic language used in the story is successful and will make this a book children can begin to read on their own.

This book contains a cute, sometimes funny story that can be enjoyed by young children as well as parents. Throughout the narrative, we see all kinds of strange-yet-sweet monsters doing silly things throughout the night. Although the hand-drawn illustrations are cute and appealing to the eye, some of the illustrations lack bright colors, making them less appealing. Additionally, sometimes the background is all black, drawn in what appears to be pen strokes. This created a lack of contrast with the monsters, causing the creatures to get lost within the dark background, and ultimately making them difficult to see.

The manner in which the text is placed on the pages happened to be the biggest detractor for this children’s book. The text is randomly inserted in a white box on the page; however, the pictures are full color, including the background. So the stark contrast of the white box containing the text seems unprofessional and poorly placed. The text would have appeared more integrated with the illustrations if a contrasting color was used for the font and the words were placed directly on top of the illustrations.

After The Goodnights Are Said is a short, simple children’s book that would be most appropriate for parents to read to young children aged approximately three to seven. There are some funny parts of the story that will be enjoyed by both children and their parents. However, the unprofessional looking text boxes, sometimes distracting artwork, and forced rhyming lead me to rate this children’s book 2 out of 4 stars. If the illustrations all had better contrast, and if the text was placed seamlessly within the illustrations, I would have considered a higher rating.

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After The Goodnights Are Said
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Libs_Books · Post by **Libs_Books** » 11 Apr 2018, 05:48

What a pity - the concept sounds really good, and I do love rhyme in children's books, but I think you're absolutely right about the text layout issues, which you describe in very helpful detail.

Post by **kandscreeley** » 11 Apr 2018, 08:42

This sounds like a cute story. I love the idea of monsters texting and stuff after everyone is in bed. It's too bad that the font isn't better laid out in the book. Thanks for the review.

kfwilson6 · Post by **kfwilson6** » 11 Apr 2018, 09:31

MarisaRose wrote: ↑10 Apr 2018, 07:55
The manner in which the text is placed on the pages happened to be the biggest detractor for this children’s book. The text is randomly inserted in a white box on the page; however, the pictures are full color, including the background. So the stark contrast of the white box containing the text seems unprofessional and poorly placed. The text would have appeared more integrated with the illustrations if a contrasting color was used for the font and the words were placed directly on top of the illustrations.

Wow that is so funny that you made that comment. I just completed a review on a children's book, Rullunder the Imagerater, and it too had a cute story that I found really enjoyable but the author did the same thing with the white boxes. I said it looked like a poorly done PowerPoint presentation. That is an incredibly amateurish approach to illustrations. I think children really enjoy good illustrations, and even I am a very visual person and think the illustrations in a children's book are important for my own enjoyment of it. There are so many children's books out there that could give some of the less experienced illustrators ideas for how they can layout their text and images so that the text doesn't get lost in a dark background.

Nice review. This does sound like a fun story for kids.

Post by **Mr Benj** » 11 Apr 2018, 11:31

The part of using rhymes in the book makes it educational.
But I hope it won't cause nightmares to the children when read to them before going to bed.

Yours sincerely,
Mr Benji.

crediblereading2 · Post by **crediblereading2** » 12 Apr 2018, 16:57

The concepts in this story-book for children are innovative. I love the straightforward way in which you have described the contents. Both children and adult should have fun reading this book.

Jamasenu · Post by **Jamasenu** » 15 Apr 2018, 00:00

A bedtime story that left a few basics out. The best critic for a child's book is normally the kid that's reading the book. We may not agree but the child may love it. When the author used colorful illustrations with a white textbox, it throws off the picture. Too much rhyming can help most children. Good review.

qsusan · Post by **qsusan** » 19 Apr 2018, 12:01

It seems the presentation of this book, such as the font, text placemrnt and colour scheme, still needs some improvement. An informative review.

Post by **Kibet Hillary** » 24 Apr 2018, 02:40

Nice book here for the kids. It is true that illustration should be coloured as most children will prefer it that way. It will also make the book more appealing. Thanks for the review.

Riszell · Post by **Riszell** » 11 Jun 2018, 01:21

I'm not sure if this book will help children go to bed early or on time the parents want them to sleep as the characters are monsters but it will surely entertain kids just not sure if it's good for a bedtime story though.

Ktwills79 · Post by **Ktwills79** » 14 Jun 2018, 14:15

Great review, it sounds like you really summed up the pros and cons of this book very well. I probably wouldn't read this book to my kids for a number of reasons...1) I hate introducing the idea of monsters, although this sounds funny enough to not be scary; 2) dark pictures definitely make the story more boring and would probably lose my kid's interest quickly; 3) rhyming books have to be spot-on or else they're too annoying to read more than once. Sounds like a super cute idea though and maybe the author can make some formatting changes to tighten things up a bit with the text/pictures.