There's a Dinosaur on the 13th Floor

October 1, 2018

PreS-Gr 1-Readers will notice early on that there is something a bit unusual about the Sharemore Hotel. When an exhausted Mr. Snore checks in, he doesn't notice the twin snakes wrapping around the front desk's posts and heads straight for his bed on the first floor. He is nonplussed to find a mouse asleep on his pillow. When he calls to complain, the bellhop explains that the mouse has had a rough day and suggests a room on the second floor, which turns out to be occupied by a pig. Unsatisfactory rooms abound right up to the 13th floor where Mr. Snore finds an empty, quiet place with absurdly large accommodations. He promptly falls asleep. The final call to the bellhop comes from the rightful inhabitant of the 13th floor: a dinosaur unhappy about finding Mr. Snore asleep in his bed. Acrylic and ink illustrations show a cheerful bellhop and a growing assortment of creatures congregating at the front desk of the Sharemore Hotel. VERDICT A fun addition to bedtime-themed books that is perfectly suited for one-on-one or small group sharing.-Kelly Roth, Bartow County Public Library, Cartersville, GA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2019
Human Mr. Snore (with a cartoonishly big schnoz) is trying to get a good night's sleep at the Sharemore Hotel. But on every floor he tries, there's an issue or creature making it difficult...until he becomes the problem for a dinosaur on the thirteenth floor. The acrylic and ink illustrations have a classic look, and clever surprises in text and art will keep readers on their toes.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

August 15, 2018
This hotel is for the birds! (And spiders, mice, pigs....) Mr. Snore, a very tired musician whose face looks like one colossal nose, checks into the Sharemore Hotel one evening. Sadly, the rooming accommodations on the first floor are not up to Mr. Snore's standards, as the bed is already occupied by a small mouse sleeping on the pillow. The bellhop, who bears a passing resemblance to Tintin, relocates Mr. Snore to the second floor, where he finds a covers-hogging hog. This pattern repeats with each floor until Mr. Snore reaches the 13th and the titular dinosaur. At this point, the joke turns, and it is the annoyed dino who requests a new room when it finds Mr. Snore snoozing on its pillow. The book ends with the exhausted dinosaur sleeping in the lobby with the bellhop. Overall, the execution is fair, if a tad bland. While the page turns reveal each new animal, the preceding images don't give much in the way of hints as to what they will be, denying young readers a chance to develop their predictive skills. Some of the rooms' doors are fancifully styled to match their inhabitants, but most are plain--a missed opportunity. The acrylic-and-ink illustrations are amusing enough, but the caricature of Mr. Snore and his schnoz is an odd choice. Both Mr. Snore and the bellhop are white. Make reservations elsewhere. (Picture book. 6-8)

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August 20, 2018
Bulbous-nosed musician Mr. Snore stifles a yawn as he checks into the posh Sharemore Hotel in this droll story by Bradford (Around the World in a Bathtub). When the bellhop escorts him to a room, he swaps his tuxedo for pajamas—without removing his bow tie—and is vexed to find a mouse in his bed. Mr. Snore demands a new room
(“Somebody is sleeping on my pillow”), and the bellhop shows him to one on the next floor, where he discovers he’s sharing a bed with a pig (who hogs the covers). The bellhop’s unflappability comically contrasts the hotel guest’s escalating exasperation as they climb the stairs to one room after another, encountering dangling spiders, giraffes, and a mazelike hamster colony. Finally, Mr. Snore is able to do just that, curled up in an enormous bed belonging to the title character (“Somebody is sleeping on my pillow!”). Acrylic and ink pictures by Hawkes (Imagine That!) amplify the tale’s humor with such playful flourishes as snakes wrapped around the art-deco hotel’s pillars, a rodent perched on a chandelier, and Mr. Snore and the dinosaur’s matching pince-nez and bunny slippers. Ages 4–8.