Good Knight Sleep Tight

Kiss That Missed #2

by David Melling

When the baby princess's cat ruins her special pillow and causes her to cry, the king sends out his best knight to find the perfect feathers for a brand new pillow, yet when that also fails, her devoted older brother lends a hand and finds just the perfect solution to the problem at hand.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Medieval, Animals, Adventure

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

David Melling grew up in London with various siblings and a selection of animals, including a dog. It took him a while to decide what he wanted to do, but he never stopped drawing. He worked as a cel renderer and background artist in several animation studios before he began illustrating children’s books. His work includes the Hugless Douglas series and The Kiss That Missed, which was short-listed for the Kate Greenaway Medal. To date he has created around 150 books in over thirty languages. David Melling lives in Oxfordshire, England, with his wife and two children.

Reviews

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny story about a little princesses keeping the royal court up and a daring knight on a dangerous quest to provide her with a soft pillow for her to fall asleep on. The illustrations are very cute and I love the medieval theme.

[Angel Charlett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated, the pictures perfectly complete the story. The story line was rather enjoyable, however the moral of the story was kind of missed. The brother realises the fuss about his younger sister, but I feel as if it could of been expressed/shown in a different way.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

The books that started the reading bug in my house - the boys love the illustrations and the words. There's always something new in the pictures and Melling is a fantastic find for any parent who likes reading at night.

[Lance · Rating 3 out of 5]

"'Fill this with something soft and fluffy!'"

I wish I could draw like David Melling. The expressions on his characters faces are so complex, so realistic, they seem to be made up of more lines than they actually are. And the level of detail in these illustrations is immense. I felt myself having to stop after reading the text so that I had enough time to take in everything that was going on in the pictures. I suppose that is the mark of a picture book that a child will want to read again and again. No wonder this drew Little's eye even though he can't see so well with all that hair!
The book follows a haplessly energetic knight on a quest to refill the newborn baby princess' royal cushion so that she stops crying and everyone can get some sleep. "The knight leapt into action. He was so quick there wasn't even time to finish the senten" He fend off hungry bears and a stampede of wolves before settling for the consensually given feathers from the blue birds inhabiting the Entish feather tree. "So the knight and his 'I'm COMPLETELY scared of heights' horse clambered up into the branches." The horse is fantastic, by the way. The way he shamelessly allows himself to be carried and spends most of the book sitting up like a human was priceless. Shame his quest didn't solve the problem as the little baby girl just needed a cuddle from her big brother ...
I wasn't the biggest fan of the slanted frames and pictures within pictures when each of the illustrations themselves were already fairly crowded with lush detail. But then again, I am Mr. Migraine, so who knows if anyone else will find this detracts from the craft.

[Jessica Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really loved the first book so I was pretty disappointed that the second one didn't live up to the first for me. The idea isn't bad, but the writing felt very clunky and like I was missing the occasional page or paragraph along the way. The illustrations are still nice, the trees though were pretty... weird. I liked that the brothers hug was what calmed his sister down.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little silly. A lot sweet. We loved the artwork, and the ending was the best.

[Anne-Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Good Knight, Sleep Tight” is the second of (so far) three picture books set in the same fantasy world starring a loyal knight, his faithful horse, the royal family and “bears with long claws [...], swooping owls [...] and [...] hungry wolves with dribbly mouths.” So far, so standard. But it’s David Melling’s art and sense of humour that make these books so wonderful.

In “Good Knight, Sleep Tight”, the prince from “The Kiss That Missed” has acquired a baby sister (“He couldn’t see what all the fuss was about.”) The knight is sent on a quest to fill the royal pillow with “something soft and fluffy” for the princess, encountering bears, wolves and owls on the way. Keep an eye on his shield for the lion – who goes green as they climb up the tree, or gets knocked into the side as they leave so quickly there isn’t “even enough time to finish the senten”… The text bounces round the pages with the action, winding round sequences of pictures and changing in size through the story. The pictures are utterly gorgeous and filled with little details that you pick up more of from each reading. They’re also a lovely snapshot of aspects of real family life, and it’s nice to have a king and queen who act like normal parents do.

I expect that the age range is aimed at 3-6 year olds. I say it’s enjoyable from birth to adulthood – I’ve been reading it to my eldest daughter (now nearly three) since before she was a year old and to my youngest daughter (7 months) since birth. The almost-three year old chooses all three books on a regular basis and we sit down to read them – “Oh, no, what’s happening!” she cries, in between quoting the next lines. All three books are huge fun for me to read to my daughters and I’m still seeing new things in the pictures, and love the humour. I enjoy all three, it was difficult choosing my favourite to write a review.

I can thoroughly recommend reading anything written by David Melling, and this fantasy trilogy is a very good place to start with young children – who understand that stories should start “Once upon a something…” and end happily after something a little bit scary in the middle.

Review from: http://childledchaos.me.uk/2011/07/01...

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

The little princess' pillow is squashed flat by the palace cat and nobody can get any rest with the princess' wailing. A knight is sent off on a quest to fill the pillow with the softest things he can find. Which leads him and his horse on quite the adventure.

The Kiss That Missed is an adorably sweet tale. This one is much more goofy, but has it's tender moments. The illustrations steal the show, especially the facial expressions and bodily positions of the horse. This one is sure to provide littles ones with a few giggles before bed time.

[Emma Parkin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story of a young Prince who has a new baby sister who won't stop crying. The knight is sent on a quest to create the fluffiest pillow to help her sleep. There are some nice humours illustrations used throughout the book but I particularly liked the use of some of the adjectives selected: loyal faithful knight, prickly grizzled bears, grumbly tummies, slinky shadows, bristly scratchy hair, dizzy owl.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun story about an older brother coming to the rescue of his baby sister. Although the story centers around him going on an quest to find soft fill for her favorite pillow, the ending shows the true moral of the tale when everyone discovers what will truly calm the baby. The illustrations are fun and the story is entertaining. We enjoyed reading this story together.

[Tam · Rating 2 out of 5]

My 4-year-old and I were not impressed with this book. The only fun part was when the knight needed to find something to stuff a pillow with and he decided to take fur from bear's bums or feathers from the birds (the photos were funny). The story was boring.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fresh and delightful melding of author illustrator. I enjoyed the creativity of the "unfinished sentence" and the plethora of fun and adventurous details that are drawn but not written into the story, begging you to linger on every page. A sweet,amusing and ultimately engaging romp.

[The Brothers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story about a knight sent on a quest to create a soft pillow for the newborn princess to sleep on. Has some wonderful turns of phrases like, "Nobody noticed slinky shadows curling around the tree trunks."

Really great illustrations - the Feather Trees are the best!

[Hanne Govaerts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nederlandse titel 'Welterusten, Ridder Rik'

[Gwyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Follow-up to 'The Kiss that Missed,' perfect for us it has a prince and a new baby princess. We can't find our copy right now though--its in a suitcase or a grandma's house or???

[Rose]

E Mel

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this author, these books are adorable and my midgets love them too!

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

We love reading this at bedtime. Fun story and fabulous illustrations.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a book to read aloud at bedtime, I found it disjointed. It's not a bad book, and the art is great, but we'll be returning it the library without much regret.

[Ham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great illustrations. Clever (if a little formulaic) story. I was pleased at the surprise ending.

[David Fenner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather a silly story greatly helped by the superb illustrations.

[Miss Janis the Storytime Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

fine.