The Secret Plan

by Julia Sarcone-Roach

You know how bedtime always gets in the way of fun? Not this time!

Milo and his kittycat neighbors have noticed that bedtime always seems to come just when they are having the most fun. So they hatch a secret let’s fool Mommy-and-Daddy plan and find the “most perfect no bedtime ever place” to have just a little more fun before sleep. Then, a let’s-all-pile-in-together slumber party proves to be the perfect nightcap. Kids will enjoy all the charm of this lovely let’s-not-go-to-bed-yet book—which does end with everyone fast asleep!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Cats, Friendship, Fiction

40 pages, Hardcover

First published October 13, 2009

About the author

Julia Sarcone-Roach's animated short Call of the Wild has shown at numerous film festivals around the world. She attended the Rhode Island School of Design. This is her first book. Julia Sarcone-Roach lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Reviews

[Nadine in NY Jones]

Super cute art and super cute story about two families living next to each other in appropriately-scaled row houses. The elephant-side is large, the cat-side is small, and that detail is soooo cute and never mentioned, which just made it cuter!! The kids love to play together, and bedtime gets in the way of play, so they hatch a "secret plan" to cancel bedtime. The reader can be the judge: was the plan truly secret, or did the parents know? (Hint: the parents knew.)

[Patrick Roach]

The finest of all not-yet-but-almost-published childrens books.

[Paula]

Milo the little elephant has great things going on with the kids next door, three kittens named Henry, Hildy, and Harriet. They make tin-can telephones. They build a house of cards, they play forts, and they dig for treasure. But JUST when they're about to uncover the chest full of loot, something intervenes. Something parental. Curses! Just when things are getting good, it's always lunch, or dinner, or even worse - BEDTIME.

They try everything to get around it. But hiding and sneaking aren't enough. They have to come up with a special secret plan. Success!

This plot is VERY appealing to little kids. It has enough tension to keep them on the edge of their seats, but no actual consequences, as befitting a picture book. The details are adorable. The illustrations extend the text, adding extra humor.

The design, especially the text layout, conspires with the other elements to give us tiptoeing, frustration, and being startled. It's almost concrete poetry.

The art, in its swishiness, somehow reminds me of Goodnight Gorilla. The sweetness, and the bedtime-circumvention plot, is like that too. And when I compare a book to Goodnight Gorilla, that is some of my highest praise.

More like this on Pink Me: http://pinkme.typepad.com

[Skye Kilaen]

This is a "not-quite-ready-for-bedtime" book! Milo the elephant and his cat neighbors Henry, Hildy, and Harriet are great friends and have lots of fun together. The fly in the ointment? They always have to go to bed! So they devise a plan to stay up forever. In the end, they do go to bed, but the secret playtime they have first was so intriguing to my six year old that I felt compelled to ask him what he thought would happen if the friends stayed up every night that late. "They would be SO tired" was the response. Good boy!

[Diane]

"BEDTIME! had to be stopped."

Just when things get interesting, it's bedtime. "It ended the marshmallow roast and wrecked the three-cats-in-a-tree record." So Milo and his friends try to devise a plan to get around bedtime.

Cute bedtime story.

[Erin Waymel]

Cute illustrations but didn't appreciate the quiet message of disobeying and being intentionally deceptive to parents. Little minds don't need to be learning these messages from their bedtime stories.

[Brandy]

If you have children that you read to at bedtime, I’d highly recommend this one. A very cute and funny bedtime story!

[Mills College Library]

Picture S2439s 2009

[RachelAnne]

Personable characters illustrated in broad brushstrokes of acrylic paint bring a cozy feel to this charming book. Milo is a baby elephant. Henry, Harriet and Hildy are kittens. They are best friends and neighbors in the same building. Unfortunately, their adventures “were always getting interrupted. “‘Lunch!’ toppled the tower. ‘Dinner!’ terminated the takeoff. / And sometimes their adventures were broken up FOR NO GOOD REASON. ‘Get out of the trash!’ / And, of course, ‘Bedtime!’ always ruined EVERYTHING.” So, the youngsters try to hide from bedtime, but this course of action fails—at least in part because elephants are rather hard to hide. Eventually, they all pretend to go to bed on time, then sneak upstairs to a big, treasure-filled attic. "It was the perfect late-night no-bedtime-ever hideout.” They try on hats and mustaches, study Morse code, eat cookies and drink tea before returning to bed--only to reunite again for one more secret plan. ADORABLE.

[Nielson]

Milo, Henry, Harriet, and Hildy have loads of fun together....that is until they are interrupted by dinner, lunch, bedtime or any other call from parents. Something must be done! They come up with creative solutions, but none of them work until they get out the furry monster feet. Their perfect solution ends in the perfect bedtime way....with sleep! The bright, beautifully crafted illustrations along with the creative text are a perfect match for this bedtime story.

[Green Bean]

Milo and his three kitty friends are frustrated that their playtime adventures are constantly getting thwarted by lunch, dinner and most of all...dreadful bedtime! They cleverly engineer a secret plan to extend their playtime and avoid bedtime altogether. Julia Sarcone-Roach's hilariously detailed illustrations coupled with her creative text make this book a perfectly imaginative and endearing bedtime read.

[Kristen]

The subtle humor for adults adds a nice touch to this kid-pleasing book. Milo the elephant and his three cat neighbors Henry, Hildy, and Harriet have the same problem my kids do - their fun is always interrupted just when it's getting good by grown-ups saying it's bedtime. Hiding, wearing disguises, sneaking out - nothing gets them out of having to go to bed, until they make their secret plan. They pretend to go to bed, and then sneak out for fun. Great debut.

[Bistra Ivanova]

О, разкошни, разкошни илюстрации! Но историята нещо не си я бива сякаш. Де да знам, вече съм голяма, но на деца, дето не обичат да им прекъсват игрите с "Време е за лягане", може и да им хареса :-))
Изображения и интервю с авторката - http://www.book-by-its-cover.com/chil...

[Heidi-Marie]

Best read up close because the illustrations are one to enjoy closer up to see all the details and nuances. Not quite sure if it is one the younger kids will quite get (apartment living and the animals representing humans, kind of), especially the need to see the pictures up close. But I still enjoyed it. A nice read for a random pull off the shelf find.

[Bookless00]

An elephant and his three kitten friends are plotting something secret. I especially love how Sarcone-Roach incorporates building plans, morse code, and fake mustaches into the illustrations and stories.

[Auttumn C]

Who hasnt wanted to sneak out of their house and play with their friends alittle bit longer? well this is just what this elephant wants! This is a sweet book that keeps you wanting more and would be a great prediction book!

[Judy]

Absolutely LOVED this. Such brilliant illustrations, and so elegantly written. It absolutely screams talent!

Aside from all that, it would be great fun to read to a pre-schooler. For both parent and child.

[Ryan]

Adorable and sweet and full of awesome details. I love it.

[Angie]

Cute illustrations and story about an elephant and three kitty cats. It really is cute. For some reason I'm still stuck at three stars.

[Marisa]

I really love the idea of an elephant and three cats being best friends. super cute.

[Heather]

Love this book. The illustrations are soooo cool! Children will love the kittens and elephant and the secret plans they hatch to avoid their bedtime!

[Elizabeth]

Themes: elephants, cats, friends, bedtime, secrets, mischieveous, hiding, sneaking,

Too small for storytime, but cute book. Small text

[Donna]

A great bedtime book. Adorable!

[Kate McCartney]

A very cute book about an Elephant and three cats that are tired of their plan being interrupted by their parents and such mundane things as dinner, chores and bedtime.

[Laura Fowler]

A friend of a friend in NYC-- loved this book! lighthearted, inventive and cute.

[Leonore]

Elephants AND cats? Two of my favorite animals in a super cute picture book :-)

[Kelly]

My kids love this book!! It is really funny and cleverly done. :)

[Fada Goossen]

6-year-old says "Super-awesome"

[emyrose8]

Adorable! Excellent illustrations. Definitely one to share with my students.

[Tina B]

elephant, kittens, cats, hidden mouse on each spread, after bedtime adventures