This was pretty funny! How can one miss with a sleep walking goat?! This is the busiest sleeping goat ever; he has sooo many funny adventures when sleeping It's a good thing he has little Gus to keep him safe! Kids are going to crack up reading this hilarious story! The illustrations are priceless!

Great Drawings, Bumpy Story

The setup here is that mild Mr. Clutterbuck has wild adventures while sleepwalking.

The illustrations are fun, and work on a couple of levels. Like the books of Richard Scarry, or the Mr. Postmouse books, the drawings energetically illustrate the action of the story, but loaded around the edges and hidden within the scenes, are oodles of little jokes and bits of business. Just as Scarry had Goldbug peeking out of every page to emphasize some bit of the story, so too here do we get Mr. Clutterbuck's pet guinea pig, Gus, (his companion and protector), reacting to the chaos caused by Clutterbuck's sleepwalking. Plus, neighbors and onlookers, and neighborhood pets, and who knows what else, are shown reacting to the events of the story. The overall effect is that there is a lot to find and to see on every page, and lots of visual jokes and puns to recognize and appreciate. Not only does this make the book fun, it greatly enhances its rereadability and it rewards careful observation.

The story itself is broken up into several different nights of sleepwalking and several different adventures, (most of which are a bit strange and off-kilter), and this almost chapter structure probably helps with littler readers. It also means that if one adventure isn't that interesting, well, there are more to come. By the end, though, everything comes together in a satisfying and cheerfully upbeat conclusion.

That said, some of the storytelling does wander around a bit. Mr. Clutterbuck mostly just mumbles nonsense words and rhymes while sleepwalking, and the antics sometimes have an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink feel. I'm not quite sure how the translator moved this from Finnish to English, but the end result is that the story sometimes feels unmoored. On the other hand, when a story involves doing the cha-cha in a railyard while graffiti artists look on, or riding a grocery cart into the middle of a motorcycle drag race, I'm not sure what your narrative options are except to go with the flow.

At bottom, I was impressed with the drawings, and willing to go along with the bumpy narrative, and mostly just amused by the cleverness and energy of the project. This might be best for an ambitious little reader with a taste for the silly absurd, but isn't that a nice place to be?

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Goodnight, Mr. Clutterbuck by Mauri Kunnas. Translated from the Finnish by Jill Timbers.
Archipelago. Elsewhere Editions. Mauri Tapio Kunnass, one of Finland's most beloved children's writers, has written and illustrated this picture book now presented to the American market. His brilliantly colored drawings are rich with color and cover a wide variety of clothed animals as they humorously bring Mr. Clutterbuck’s chaotic sleepwalking adventures to a close. Thanks to NetGalley, Archipelago and Elsewhere Editions for providing this ebook for review.

Mr. Clutterbuck is reserved and quite boring during the day, consistently turning down offers from people to join them in fun activities. However during his sleepwalking expeditions he becomes a town hero by singlehandedly putting an end to the rivalry between two biker gangs, preventing the impending bankruptcy of the sausage factory and helping a rock band out of a rut, amongst other exciting things. Gus, Mr. Clutterbuck's faithful guinea pig, tags along to ensure Mr. Clutterbuck remains safe while he wanders around the town asleep.

Translated from Finnish by Jill Timbers, I don't know if anything was lost in the translation but if it was it didn't matter. The names of the characters are a hoot! Rip and Roar are leaders of rival biker gangs, Wally Wurst is a hippopotamus that owns a sausage factory and one of the policemen is called Constable Fuzz!

Kids are going to love hearing the jumbled words that come out of Mr. Clutterbuck's mouth when he's sleepwalking. I couldn't tell you why but Mr. Clutterbuck's voice in my head sounded exactly like Wallace from Wallace & Gromit.

Kids and adults alike will enjoy finding new things in the pictures each time they open the book, like a car on a roof or a snake playing drums in a rock band. Even if you had no interest in this book based on the story I'd still recommend it for the illustrations alone. They're detailed, quirky, funny and the animals are fantastic!

I've already spent a lot of time looking closely at all of the pictures to try and ensure I haven't missed anything but even so I'm sure I have. There's just so much to look at! Keep your eye out for the cutest fuzzy little spider with a top hat and cane in the majority of illustrations, adorable bats, and the spoon thief who's lurking around throughout the book.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley (thank you so much to NetGalley and Archipelago Books for the opportunity) in exchange for honest feedback.