ALPHABEDTIME by Susanna Leonard Hill, illustrated by Betsy Snyder. Special BLOG TOUR PPBF!

Blog Tour Stop! Everybody ready?

Susanna Leonard Hill’s new ALPHABEDTIME! has frolicked onto bookstore shelves all over, and we’re celebrating here, there, and everywhere. Today I have an extra-special Perfect Picture Book Friday, to celebrate the newest book-baby of our very own PPBF Founder, Susanna!

Title: Alphabedtime!

Author: Susanna Leonard Hill (yes, THE Susanna Leonard Hill)

Illustrator: Betsy Snyder

Publisher: New York: Nancy Paulsen Books, October 25, 2022 (THREE days ago!)

Genre: Picture book

Audience Age: 3 to 6

Themes/Topics: Alphabet, Bedtime, Family fun

Opening Sentences:

Suppertime’s over. Everyone’s fed.

Alpha Mom says, TIME FOR BED!

Synopsis: 

This is a delightful bedtime romp through the alphabet, with situations kids will readily identify with: spilled milk on the table, waiting to brush teeth, getting tucked in with a special lovey, lights out, and then… … … PILLOW FIGHT!

Betsy Snyder’s illustrations are marvellous, and perfectly compliment Susanna’s rollicking text. This is not a quiet, lull-you-to-sleep, bedtime book. The characters dance on the pages and frolic through their pre-bedtime activities. Don’t take my word for it – Susanna has kindly allowed me to post a spread from the book for your reading and viewing pleasure.

If you keep reading, you’ll find an interview I held with the letter D, trying to find out who started the pillow fight. It’s a deep, dark mystery that only Detective D can decipher.

Activities/Resources: 

The best activity for ALPHABEDTIME is to go slowly through the book, looking carefully at the illustrations. Have the kids try to name all the loveys and toys that each Alphababy has, and what letters they start with.

Speaking of loveys and toys, ask kids if they can find loveys and toys and pets and people around the house and the family to match with every letter of the alphabet. If they can’t find something for every letter, look through old magazines, and see if there are any pictures of X-rays or Xylophones or Zebras, etc.

Alphabedtime snacks like letter-shaped pancakes or letter-shaped cereal treats would be fun to make and fun to eat.

If your kids don’t already know the Alphabet song, now’s a good time to learn it! (And for extra fun, there’s always my favorite rendition of it, with Kermit the Frog and Joey … or is it Julie?). )

Availability: Readily available in hardcover at independent bookstores such as Merritt Bookstore in Millbrook, NY, and elsewhere.

Every Friday, bloggers join together to share picture book reviews and resources thanks to author Susanna Leonard Hill’s brainchild, “Perfect Picture Book Fridays.” Susanna then adds the books (and links to the reviews) to a comprehensive listing by subject on her website. Find the entire listing there.

Don’t go away! There’s more! Much more!

Stay tuned for a special interview, an interview like no other, an interview that covers the gamut from A to Z! Read on to see Beth Babbler, famous news reporter, interview Detective D who’s determined to discover who dinged the first dome in the pillow fight…

Interview:

This is Beth Babbler reporting to you live from the Alpha House where an investigation is ongoing into the cause of this evening’s high jinks and shenanigans.  I’m here with. . . what did you say your name was?

D: D.  I’m the Detective digging into the dastardly deeds that occurred here tonight.

BB: Dastardly deeds? (Gasp) What perplexing puzzle are you parsing?

D: I’m determined to discover who plotted the pillow fight!

BB: That’s quite a question. Have you quizzed the suspects? 

D: As I said, the investigation is ongoing. I’m not at liberty to divulge details just yet.  Where were YOU at the moment in question?

BB: (Gasp) Me? I had nothing to do with this debacle!

D: That’s what they all say. Do you have an alibi?

BB: I don’t even know when it happened! How can I have an alibi?

D: (surreptitiously scribbling on his notepad) I see. . . Seriously suspicious!

BB: Could we get back to the actual interview, please? What went down? (Besides the pillows, which are filled with down. But I digress.)

D: It was bedtime at the Alpha House. You know the drill. Brushing, bathing, bathrobes and bedroom slippers, books, bed. But somewhere along the way, hoopla was hatched! Let’s look at the clues.

It certainly started with C, hanging by her knees from the chandelier, swinging like a chimpanzee. 

C: I heard that! And I didn’t cause the chaos. Who dumped the milk on the dinner table? That was the start!

D: Irrelevant! (D dismisses this and continues his discourse, smoothly sidestepping the matter of who dumped the milk that dribbled and dripped during dinner.) H was definitely part of the plot, high-tailing it through the house on his horse.

BB: Aha! A horse! A horse in a house has to wreak havoc.

H: Don’t bring Hee-Haw into this! He was just hankering for his hay!

D: (not missing a drumbeat) Then there’s lively little L, laughing and lassoing everything in sight, leaving a litter of lightning sparks behind her.  

L: Leave me out of this! I want a lawyer.

D: (droning on as if she hadn’t spoken) And S, that skateboarding shark, is always speeding and spinning and sliding sideways, a regular situation stirrer!

S: Hey, dude. Don’t diss the board.

D: I’m not “dissing the board”! I’m saying you’re squirrely! And sneaky! And a schemer!

BB: (Baffled and bewildered) How did a squirrelly shark sneak into the scene? It’s scandalous!

S: I’m spectacular, dude. T is trouble. I is an instigator. N is naughty. R is a ringleader. How come you don’t blame them?

D: Because using my powers of deduction, I have discovered who is behind this!  The Master of Mischief herself, with her Magic Wand, and her Mysterious tricks.

M: Me?

D: Yes, you!

M: Couldn’t be. If you look on page 26, you’ll see I’m merely managing to miss being pummeled by pillows.

D: Ah! But your bunnies! The bunnies you brought into being with your magic!  Those bunnies are everywhere! THEY started the Big Bolster Battle. So, you, as maker of those boisterous, bouncy, bothersome bunnies are responsible for the mayhem!

BB: Mystery solved!

D: NO! Mystery not solved! M is responsible for the bunnies, but who is responsible for M? Look again at the clues: S, the schemer. L, the livewire. H, the high-tailing horse enthusiast. Who plotted the pillow fight? 

BB: I thought you deduced that it was M.

D: No! Not M!  S. L. H.  The writer herself! The plotter of these Shenanigans! The Scribe of these Literary High-jinks!

BB: Your discernment dazzles me! What powers of deduction!

BB: There you have it folks, the mystery has been solved, and the pillow pummelers have settled down to a nice bowl of AlphaBedtime LetterPerfect Cereal. I think I’ll join them. This is Beth Babbler, signing off from Alpha House. Back to you at the studio. … … (Pours cereal) … … Hey! Who took all the milk?

B (not BB. Me.): Thank you SO much to Susanna and her friends the Alphababies who participated so wholeheartedly (and whole-pillowedly) in this interview.

SLH: Thank you so much for having me on your blog, Beth!

Susanna L. Hill is the author of three New York Times bestsellers, including Moon’s First Friends: One Giant Leap for Friendship, and the award-winning author of over twenty-five more books for children, including Punxsutawney Phyllis, Can’t Sleep Without Sheep, and the popular When Your Lion Needs a Bath series. Her books have been translated into French, Dutch, German, Japanese, Chinese, and Thai. She does frequent school and library visits, teaches picture book writing, and has a popular picture book blog. Susanna lives in New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley where she practices the alphabet with her children and two rescue dogs.

Website: https://susannahill.com/  

Face Book Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/SusannaLeonardHill  

Twitter: @SusannaLHill  https://twitter.com/SusannaLHill  

Instagram: @susannaleonardhill https://www.instagram.com/susannaleonardhill/ 

Purchase link for ALPHABEDTIME https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/315782/alphabedtime-by-susanna-leonard-hill-illustrated-by-betsy-snyder/ 

Don’t miss any of the other stops on this ALPHABEDTIME blog tour! Watch for this logo and follow this link to the Linktree for all the posts. (There are giveaways on many of them. You won’t want to miss out!)