Sandra L. Tidwell (Children's Book and Play Review, February 2007)
Daisy Mae finds she has slept past dawn again. She knows there is only one explanation - Ned, the resident rooster, has slept in again! When Ned is fired and a new "morning bird" rooster takes over, Ned leaves the farmhouse. Ned is a "night bird" and he thoroughly enjoys his first wonderful night out dancing with the rabbits, singing with the frogs, and playing with the bats. His fun is interrupted, however, by a mysterious soft creeping sound. A long black snake is slithering into the henhouse! Ned saves Daisy Mae's eggs from the snake attack, and is awarded a new job: Head of Night Security. The animals in this fun story not only reflect their natural nocturnal or diurnal behaviors, but some take on the human tendency for some personalities to function best in the morning and others in the night. The boldly colored cartoon-like illustrations and realistic dialogue blend to make a fun read-aloud story. Rating: Outstanding. Reading Level: Toddler; Preschool; Primary. Category: Picture books. 2006, Katherine Tegen Books, 32 p., $15.99. © 2002, Brigham Young University.

Sheilah Egan (Children's Literature)
What’s the use of a rooster who can’t wake up at the right time?” asks Daisy Mae the hen as she fires Ned the rooster. Lloyd’s illustrations show us that Daisy Mae has been keeping records of Ned’s efforts to rouse the henhouse in a timely manner. Sleepy Ned is depicted wearing purple slippers and clutching his teddy bear. Ned watches as Daisy Mae interviews replacement roosters and hires a very operatic fellow. Ned sulks around until evening when he meets a variety of nocturnal animals and begins to enjoy being awake when everyone in the henhouse is sleeping. They spend the night playing bat tag, dancing with rabbits, and singing with the frogs. Their great enjoyment is brilliantly evident in the double spread depicting their “wonderful time.” This revelry is interrupted when Ned notices a large black snake heading for the henhouse. “Ned crowed as he had never crowed before.” His excellent cock-a-doodle-dooing and shouts of “snake attack” rouse the hens. The snake is dispatched while the “new” rooster sleeps through the entire commotion (with curlers in his tail feathers). Daisy tells the other hens not to be upset with this since “he is not a night bird.” Daisy Mae’s leadership abilities are evident as she decides to make Ned the “night watch rooster.” He is last seen decked out with a large set of keys, a whistle, a serious flashlight, field glasses (the better to spot trouble), a walkie-talkie (to alert Daisy Mae), and, of course, his teddy bear. Official cap perched on his comb, he is ready for whatever might threaten the hens during the dark of night--enjoying the night while the hens sleep in the safety of his protection. Look again and again at the entertaining illustrations for a treat to tickle your funny bone. 2006, HarperCollins, $15.99 and $16.89. Ages 3 to 7.

Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature)
Ned the rooster is not doing his job of waking up the chickens. He is just not a morning bird. Fired by head chicken Daisy Mae, Ned spends the night enjoying himself with the other night creatures, playing tag, dancing, and singing. But then he notices a black snake approaching the hen house, where the new rooster has left the door open. Ned warns of the snake attack with the loudest crow he can manage, then stirs dirt in the snake’s face. Daisy Mae comes out and pecks the snake until he slithers away. It is obvious that the new rooster she hired is not a night bird. Daisy Mae solves the problem by hiring Ned back as Head of Night Security, to the satisfaction of all. The illustration on the jacket of Ned, sleeping away on the fence, observed by some cute bunnies and curious frogs as the sun rises, prepares us for the fun to come. Lloyd’s fowl characters are plump, with delightfully expressive faces. Bossy Daisy Mae is particularly effective with her eyeglasses and clipboard. But Ned steals the show with his personality and actions. The spread of the nighttime partying builds to the climactic encounter with the snake. Lloyd paints it all so that we believe it. 2006, Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins Publishers, $15.99 and $16.89. Ages 3 to 8.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2006 (Vol. 74, No. 14))
Ned just cannot arise in time to herald the dawning of each new morn. As he continually misses his deadline, the rather demanding hens with which he lives harass him about adversely affecting their work. Unfortunately, Ned is more of a night owl, so to speak. Once egg production drastically decreases due to the oversleeping layers, the seriously bottom-line hens kick Ned out of the coop. A new rooster who crows each morning is imported. That evening, sulky Ned is delighted to meet other nocturnal animals, such as bats, rabbits and frogs. After an enjoyable night frolic, Ned saves the day by sounding the alarm as a snake heads toward the henhouse. Ned and bossy Daisy Mae successfully scare away the predator. Ned gets a new job better suited to his biorhythms: night watchman. Cartoonish illustrations delight with sly details such as the curlers in the rooster's tail and the red emergency phone in the henhouse used when egg production falls seriously below par. Young readers will be delighted that Ned and the surrounding animals work out a compromise that satisfies everyone. 2006, Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins, 32p, $15.99. Category: Picture book. Ages 3 to 6. © 2006 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2007)
Ned the rooster is too much of a night bird to get the hens up in the morning, so hen supervisor Daisy Mae fires him. That night, while cavorting with nocturnal animals, Ned averts a crisis at the hen house--and Daisy Mae realizes there's a place for him after all. The it's-okay-to-be-different message is delivered fairly gracefully, and vivid illustrations add humor to the tale. Category: Picture Books. 2006, HarperCollins/Tegen, 32pp, 15.99, 16.89. Ages 4 to 9. Rating: 3: Recommended, satisfactory in style, content, and/or illustration.

Chris Rogerson (The Kutztown University Book Review, Spring 2007)
Ned is a rooster that is just not a morning bird. He can’t seem to get up early enough to wake the hens to get the egg business going. Daisy Mae, the head hen, fires him. Ned storms off to sulk all night, when the bats, frogs and rabbits invite him to play with them. He was having a blast of a time, when he noticed that the new rooster didn’t close the henhouse door and there was a snake heading right for it. He cock-a-doodle-dos the hen house awake in time to save the hens and their eggs. The new rooster was sound asleep. When asked if Ned would get his old job back, Daisy Mae said, “No, I have a new job for him. The head of night security.” This was a cute book with the moral, everybody has a place in this world, you just need to go to your strengths. Daisy Mae wasn’t the nicest of characters, however one could see how one can get frustrated with another’s incompetence. I’m not sure I would pay $16.00 for it but if you could get it cheap, it would be worth it. Category: Picture Book.. 2006, Harpercollins, $15.99. Ages 5 to 9.

Marita Richards (The Lorgnette-Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 19, No. 3))
Daisy Mae, head chicken, is upset that Ned the rooster fails to wake the chickens, so she finally dismisses Ned. Out of work, Ned becomes a real night bird playing with his new nocturnal friends--the bats, the tree frogs, and the rabbits. But that night, while playing hide-and-seek with his new friends, Ned observes a snake slithering toward the hen house. Ned attacks the snake thus saving the hen’s eggs. As a result, Daisy Mae gives Ned a new job--head of nighttime security! The clever details in the illustrations, such as snoring Ned in his slippers and clutching his teddy bear and Daisy Mae in her glasses toting her clipboard and pencil, make this story a fun romp in the chicken house as well as a useful lesson about differences. Fiction. Grades PreK-K. 2006, HarperCollins, Unpaged., $15.99. Ages 3 to 6.