When I was young I read a lot of fairy tales. I was given a collection of books written by Ruth Manning Sanders that were full of stories about giants, witches, fairies, ogres and other baddies. I loved those books and I was particularly fond of the tales where the baddies turned out not to be so bad after all. In today's picture book you will encounter the softer side of some baddies, the side that emerges at the end of the day when they are tired and in need of comfort and friendship.
Good Night, Baddies
Good Night, Baddies
Doborah Underwood
Illustrated by Juli Kangas
Picture Book
For ages 4 to 6
Simon and Schuster, 2016, 978-1-4814-0984-1
The sun is setting and the baddies in the kingdom, worn
out by all the bad things that they have done that day, head for the castle
that they call home. In ones and twos a giant, an evil queen, a dragon, wolves,
witches, a troll, a gnome and others arrive on foot, and through the air. As
they enter the castle, they share their news. Did the giant catch Jack the giant
killer? Was a treasure that was stolen found?
After a meal is
eaten together in fellowship and harmony, the various baddies head off to
prepare for bed. The queen takes off her crown and puts on her pajamas. She
puts away her poisoned apple, which she will give to Snow White on “another
day.” The troll, who has spent so much time waiting for the three goats gruff
under his bridge, is having a long bubble bath.
Dressed in their
pajamas, Rumpelstiltskin and a wolf settle in front of a crackling fire to read
a story, “one that’s sweet, not grim or gory.” One of the other baddies gives
the dragon a drink.
When it is time
for bed, the witches check under the giant’s bed to make sure that there are no
princesses there. After all, they don’t want their large friend to be scared
and therefore sleepless.
Most of us are
used to booing and hissing at the baddies that we encounter in fairy tales. We
route for Little Red Riding Hood, and are pleased when the wicked queen fails
to kill Snow White. In this picture book these same baddies that we love to
hate are presented to us in a different light. They are tired and weary baddies
who, now that their daily baddie work is complete, want the same comforts of
home that the rest of us like to enjoy. Children will be tickled to see wolves
behaving politely at the dinner table, and a gnome waiting to have a bath, a
rubber ducky under his arm. They will find themselves feeling sorry for the
giant who is afraid of princesses under his bed, and be comforted by the ways
in which the baddies look after one another. It would appear that even baddies
have a side that is not-so-bad.
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