Isabella Abnormella — J. Patrick Lewis

For everyone who loves nonsense verse, a book worth staying up for! No comforters, plush pillows, Sheets of silk or velveteen Could bring a golden slumber To her Majesty, the Queen. Not a moment's fitful dozing, Not a wink from counting sheep, Night and day she'd toss and turn Without one dreamy dream of sleep. The Queen of Trouble's mattresses are either too hard or too soft- can anyone help her get a good night's sleep? After trying one absurd thing after another (even his Mister Tickle Dream Machine), the King is about to give up. Until a young servant girl- Isabella Abnormella Pinkerton McPugh- steps forth to say what she would do... Flamboyant and funny eye-catching collages capture all the humor of this rollicking nonsense verse featuring the hard-to-please Queen of Trouble and the very, very clever young Isabella. The illustrations make the town-kingdom of Trouble into a fascinating world....this would work both as an antic daytime pleasure and an offbeat bedtime windup. (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books) Author Biography: J. Patrick Lewis has been called a master of poetic forms by School Library Journal. He is the author of countless amusing picture books, including Riddle-icious. In a starred review, the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books said, Some books try to make language fun; this one knows it already is and invites the readers to share in the revel. While in theory he finds the idea of sleeping on bubbles fascinating, the one time he actually slept on a water bed he got seasick! He lives in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Kyrsten Brooker was selected a Publishers Weekly Flying Start for her illustrations in Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street by Roni Schotter, which The New York Times praised, saying, Brooker uses collages so adroitly and with such brio that you feel like reaching in and putting an arm around each of these elegantly drawn characters. She sleeps on a creaky but comfortable queen-sized bed that her dog, Sash, is kind enough to let her up on occasionally. Ms. Brooker lives in Edmonton, Canada.