Not last night but the night before by Colin McNaughton and Emma Chichester Clark

Walker Books, 2009. ISBN 9781406325560.
(Ages 3+) Not last night but the night before an imaginative little boy had a lot of visitors knocking at his door. There was the Man in the moon, three blind mice and the farmer's wife, three little pigs, Punch and Judy and lots of other familiar nursery rhyme characters. Why are they knocking at his door and bowling him over as they rush up the stairs?
This is a charming book celebrating birthdays and nursery rhymes. It has amusing rhymes and repetition of the title that will make it a good read aloud. The happy birthday song, with its hilarious word change will have children giggling. Children will be familiar with the nursery rhyme characters and will have fun recalling the rhymes as the story progresses. It would also make a good adjunct to a unit on nursery rhymes.
The illustrations are cute and lots of fun to examine. I particularly liked the man in the moon, wearing green patterned tights and brandishing a wand scattering stars as he races up the stairs.
Pat Pledger