Gunilla Bergstrom Quotes

“And the monster is back. Every now and then he can hear it move under the bed. It sighs. It licks its paws. Sometimes it turns over. It never does anything, but it lies there.”

“He can’t sleep. His room feels strange. Almost as if there were a monster nearby.”

“There it is again. Suddenly he understands. There’s a monster under the bed, a huge, wild monster. He’s afraid to look. But he doesn’t have to. Alfie knows it’s there.”

“Finally he decides that he’ll give the little boy his yellow car. Tomorrow he’ll be nice to the little boy. Then Alfie falls asleep without paying any more attention to the monster.”

“Alfie makes a couple of trips - to the swings, the sandbox, the tree to the swings, the sandbox, the tree. There’s no little boy. Alfie takes the car home.”

“The next day is Monday. The others are playing soccer again. Alfie doesn’t feel like it. He goes off by himself, looking for the little boy.”

“That’s what really happened. The ball just got lost. It wasn’t the little boy’s fault. And now the little boy has disappeared, too.”

“Alfie sees the little boy all the way over by the parking lot. He is alive! He is all by himself, watching the big boys play.”

“But Alfie doesn’t care about the ball anymore. He is so happy that the little boy is okay. He just wants him to be happy.”

″ ‘That was a great shot’, says the little boy. ‘The best and longest anyone has kicked on our street.’ ‘Do you really think so?’ says Alfie? Now he is happy, too.”

“Here is Alfie Atkins, four years old. He is sometimes cranky, and sometimes nice. Tonight he is cranky; he doesn’t want to go to sleep.”

“He is terribly thirsty. He can feel that now. It’s terrible how thirsty he is.”

“Here is daddy. He is mostly nice. Almost too nice. Like tonight; although it’s late he reads a good, long story about a horse. Then he gives Alfie a hug and turns off the light when he leaves.”

″ ‘Daddy!’ calls Alfie. ‘We forgot to brush my teeth.’ Daddy comes. He has brought a toothbrush and a glass of water. Alfie brushes his teeth. Tonight he brushes them extra carefully. Every tooth gets clean.”

“Alfie feels like laughing out loud. Daddy looks so funny laying there sleeping. Alfie takes a blanket and tucks it in around Daddy.”

“You don’t find lions in closets very often. Good night, sleep tight, and don’t call me anymore because now I’m quite tired.”

″ So tired that he has fallen asleep on the floor right after pulling Teddy out from under the couch.”

“Oops! He’s accidentally spilled the last drops of water on the bed. Or did he spill it on purpose?”

“Now daddy has read a story, gotten the toothbrush, brought a drink, changed the sheet on the bed, cleaned up the water, brought the potty, looked for a lion, found teddy, and gotten very tired.”

“And NOW Alfie can sleep, too. Shhh….Quiet! It looks as if he’s sleeping. Yes, look! Now he’s sleeping. Good night, Alfie Atkins!”