Alphonse, You're Ruining the Show!

4.8

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Author(s)

Daisy Hirst

Publisher

Candlewick

Genre(s)

Age Range

Release Date

October 22, 2024

ISBN

978-1536238891

Buy This Book

From the award-winning author-illustrator Daisy Hirst comes a reassuring and entertaining story about a sleepover at Granny’s house in this fourth picture book starring monster siblings Natalie and Alphonse.

Natalie and Alphonse are staying the night at Granny’s house—and putting on their own play! There will be red curtains, lights, and even yogurt with sprinkles during the intermission. But when Natalie tells Alphonse he can’t have a ticket and be in the show, Alphonse wants to go home. How can the show go on without one of its stars? Luckily, Granny knows just how to turn things around, and after a cozy night’s sleep and a breakfast of pancakes, Natalie and Alphonse are excited to welcome Mom and Dad to their theatrical performance!

Editor review

1 review

Home theatre and sibling squabbles

January 21, 2025 (Updated: June 25, 2026)

Overall rating

4.8

Plot

4.0

Characters

5.0

Writing Style

5.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

5.0

A cute and cozy sibling story, in which creatures of unspecified type Alphonse and Natalie go to grandma's for the night while parents attend the theater. The siblings have lots of fun planned, including a fanciful show of their own, but when they start to have different ideas about how to make the show it might take a little grandmotherly guidance and family love to see the production to the end.

This story is stuffed full of fun little details. I'm particularly fond of how excited the kids are to be at grandma's. They make sure to greet all of the household knickknacks (it's true, everything is more exciting at grandma's) and are right at home pulling things out of cupboards to be their theatre props. Alphonse and Natalie each have their little quirks, like a love of frogs, and the writing is clever and playful throughout. Given the title, I'd anticipated a bit of a moral lesson (don't scold your siblings and/or don't ruin your sibling's ideas) but the conflict is mainly resolved by a little whining and a good sleep. Which I guess is a theme in itself (everything is better after a little sleep).

A great family tale for budding thespians and creative kids of all stripes.