Help Wanted, Must Love Books

Author:  Janet Sumner Johnson, Courtney Dawson (illustrator)

Audience age: 4-7

Published: March 2, 2020

Publisher: Capstone

Synopsis:

When Shailey’s dad gets a new job, she loses her bedtime reading partner. She immediately starts interviews to fill the position and is thrilled when her favorite fairy tale characters line up to apply. But Sleeping Beauty can’t stay awake, the Gingerbread Man steals her book, and Snow White brings her whole team. Shailey is running out of options. Is bedtime ruined forever?

Thoughts

**I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

This was a super cute story about a young girl searching for a replacement story teller for her dad who got a new job. I loved how this book included different fairy tale creatures who applied for the job. As the search for the perfect storyteller continued, the criteria became more specific to what Shailey wanted; in the end no one could replace her dad.

I had a huge smile on my face as I was reading this book, it made me feel all warm and nostalgic of my own childhood bedtime readings. This picture book brought me back to my childhood, my dad would always read to my sister and I before bed. We would take turns on whose room my dad would go to at night to read to us. We always choose our dad to read Dr. Seuss books as we enjoyed the tongue twisters and getting our dad tongue-tied.

The illustrations added so much more depth to the story. The illustrations caught my attention and added to the story – you can tell what is occurring by looking at the pictures. What really made this book stand out to me were the resumes for the storyteller position in the back of the book. There was some really nice touches and added lots of personality at the end.

I am looking forward to buying this book once it is published to add it to my collection for my future children and for my nephew. This would be a great gift to give young children who love reading books before bed.