Time for Bed

by Mem Fox, Jane Dyer (Illustrator)

Overview

Celebrating 30 years of this essential bedtime book for babies and toddlers, this beautiful book is destined to lull wakeful little ones to sleep.

An essential bedtime book for babies and toddlers. Soft, cozy illustrations of sleepy baby animals and their soothing parents are accompanied by rhyme destined to lull wakeful little ones to sleep.

Darkness is falling everywhere and little ones are getting sleepy, feeling cozy, and being tucked in. Every creature, from mice to sheep, kittens to fish, and especially children will love to snuggle under the covers for this comforting nighttime read!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780152881832
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/24/1993
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	25,526
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 10.50(h) x 0.38(d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

MEM FOX is the author of many acclaimed books, including Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, Possum Magic, Koala Lou, Time for Bed, and, for adults, Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever. She lives in Adelaide, Australia.

Jane Dyer has illustrated many well-loved picture books, including Move Over, Rover!, a Geisel Honor Book written by Karen Beaumont; Oh My Baby, Little One, an ABA Pick of the Lists and Parent's Choice Recommended Book written by Kathi Appelt; and the bestselling classic Time for Bed by Mem Fox. She lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Editorial Reviews

"Working beautifully with the soothingly repetitive text, each painting conveys a warm feeling of safety and affection."—School Library Journal
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From the Publisher

As night falls, all sorts of animals are putting their babies to bed. Lavish illustrations show dogs, cats, sheep--and even fish, bees, and snakes--crooning soothing rhymes about sleep to their babies. At last a small child is shown tucked snugly into bed. Like a lullaby, this gentle and loving goodnight book will send children off to sleep feeling comforted and serene.

Barnes & Noble Staff

"Dyer's commanding yet gentle, large-scale watercolors are the key to the appeal of this bedtime lullaby," wrote PW of the hardcover edition of Time for Bed by Mem Fox, now available in an oversize board book edition. A host of parents nudge their little ones to sleep, from a mouse to a sheep to the final image of a smiling human mother tucking in her child. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Filling each spread, Dyer's (illustrator of the Piggins books and of Baby Bear's Bedtime Book ) commanding yet gentle, large-scale watercolors are the key to the appeal of this bedtime lullaby. Fox ( Possum Magic ; Guess What? ) offers sweet but slim verse that bids good night to a selection of animals being cuddled and coddled by their mothers, all endearingly rendered at eye-level. The rhymed couplets have a pleasantly lilting rhythm, if an occasionally trite rhyme scheme: ``It's time for bed, little sheep, little sheep, / The whole wide world is going to sleep.'' After viewing the various animals nodding off, youngsters will take their bedtime cue from a cherubic toddler, whose blond head falls into a pillow covered with golden stars as mother offers a hug and the text concludes: ``The stars on high are shining bright-- / Sweet dreams, my darling, sleep well . . . / good night!'' Ages 2-6. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

PreS-Gr 2-Charming illustrations and comfortable rhymes characterize this appealing bedtime book. A twilight mood is set by dusky endpapers sprinkled with twinkling yellow stars, and by a title page showing a mother reading to a child. Double-page spreads feature animal pairs, each with a parent settling its offspring down for the night. An orange tabby kitten receives a soothing bath, a sleepy blue bird is tucked into a warm nest, and a delicate fawn curls up against its mother. Each babe is lulled by a gently rhyming couplet beginning with the phrase, ``It's time for bed.'' Dyer's watercolor illustrations are dear. Large, clearly drawn animals are placed against backgrounds of vivid hues. A variety of landscapes keeps each scene looking fresh as a foal settles down in a moonlit meadow, a pair of fish blow bubbles in blue water, and two snakes curl up in overgrown grass. Working beautifully with the soothingly repetitive text, each painting conveys a warm feeling of safety and affection. A wonderful bedfellow for Ginsburg's Asleep, Asleep (Greenwillow, 1992).-Joy Fleishhacker, New York Public Library

School Library Journal

Both parents and children should like this cozy good-night story. Against a blanket of blue sky full of golden stars, mother animals are putting their babies to sleep. Although the rhyme at times limps rather than lilts ("It's time for bed, little mouse, little mouse, / Darkness is falling all over the house"), there's a warmth to this that makes the whole more than the sum of its parts. Of course, one of the important parts is the art--striking watercolors that fill up the two-page spreads, showing a sheep and a lamb, a dog and a puppy, a cow and a calf, and others, the babies all with heavy lids, and the mothers affectionately nestling their young. The last mother-child duo is a mom and her curly-headed tot, who is wished sweet dreams and in the last picture is sound asleep. A pleasant prelude to slumber.

Ilene Cooper