SLEEPY TIME OLIE

Rolie Polie Olie is a robot on a roll with sequels, toddler stories in board format, toys, and his own Disney TV show. (Will he roll right on to the big screen next?) In this bedtime story about the Rolie Polie family, Joyce (Snowy Rolie, 2000, etc.) introduces Olie’s grandpa, Pappy, who is feeling his age after arriving in a broken-down, depressed state due to a bump on his head. Olie mixes up some humorous ingredients to create a bubble ray gun “to help old Pappy ungrow up,” a fanciful concept that will take some explaining to preschoolers, as will references to Elvis, a funny bone and a pelvis bone, and a whirling dervish. Joyce’s weirdly wacky, round-headed robots are as appealing as ever, but some of his rhymes are more mechanical than magical. Almost every page has a different rhyme scheme, which causes the reader to struggle a little on the first reading, not knowing just which syllables should be accented to make the new meter fall into place. Rolie Polie Olie fans won’t care about any of this, however, as Joyce’s inventive ideas, rollicking rhymes, and readily recognizable, Rolie-Polie-round illustration style add up to a winning format with proven success. (Picture book. 2-6)