Bouncy Bouncy Bedtime by David Bedford and Julian Russell

Bouncy Bouncy Bedtime by David Bedford and Julian Russell
Buy Bouncy Bouncy Bedtime by David Bedford and Julian Russell at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: For Sharing
Reviewer: Jo Heffer
Summary: As its title might suggest, Bouncy Bouncy Bedtime is a perfect book for a bedtime story. It poses a very simple question which is what do all the animals do when they have to go to bed at night? The answer is quite magical – that somewhere up in the big wide sky is a lovely bouncy bed that all manner of creatures wend themselves up towards before falling asleep. In this enchanting book, children will enjoy sharing the fun of some very bouncy bedtimes.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 32	Date: June 2011
Publisher: Egmont
ISBN: 978-1405257428
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At the very start of this book it is bedtime, but before going to sleep, the author asks the young reader:

Have you ever wondered what the animals do?
Do they go to bed like me and you?

and then we are asked to imagine...

You are asked to imagine that there is a big, bouncy bed high up in the clouds that is just waiting to be filled with sleepyheads. This is such a lovely idea and really captured my daughter's imagination as soon as we started to read the book together. As night draws in, all manner of creatures head up towards this big comfy bed. The wonderful thing is that, David Bedford, the author, does not name these creatures as we would expect but gives them some wonderful alternative names instead. There are Waddlers, Honey Growlers, Hopalots, Smiley Snappers and Humpy Lumps to mention just a few. I wonder if you can guess what they all are? My daughter was delighted when she first came across these wonderfully imaginative names.

All of these fabulous creatures make their way up to the big bouncy bed in their own unique way. The Smiley Snappers swish and snip; the Junglers swing; the Hopalots spring and soar and the Waddlers slide and glide. Eventually they all make it up this wonderful bedstead that just seems to be floating on air and as you would imagine it becomes pretty full. Although it seems like pandemonium, all the animals are pretty tired and soon a gentle hush comes over the bouncy bed – just in time for your little one to go to sleep too!

I really can't praise this amazing book highly enough – everything about it is perfect. The story, although simple, is very appealing and my daughter was very caught up with the idea of this lovely bouncy bed drifting somewhere high above her. The vocabulary used is inspiring too. We love the names given to all of the different animals and the way they are described. There are some lovely onomatopoeic words too – swish, swoosh, klabaloosh are just some – that children will absolutely relish joining in with. As a parent, I think it is a long time since I have read a children's book with so much language that I have enjoyed as much as this one.

Not only is the choice of words brilliant, but the way they are presented on the page is very exciting. They are not just written in the uniform way that you find in many texts, but they twirl, swirl, dance and float all over the pages giving the sensation that they too are heading off to meet the bed in the sky. The size of the font changes too drawing one's eyes very cleverly to different words on the page. Towards the end, when all of the animals are feeling sleepy, the words settle down to a gentle sway across the page bringing a sense of calm and peace.

The thing that makes 'Bouncy Bouncy Bedtime' truly memorable though are the stunning illustrations. They are gentle images in soft pastel colours and if you look carefully, you will spot the big bed hovering in many of the pictures just waiting for all the sleepyheads to join it. My daughter spends a lot of time just absorbing the detail on all of the pages.

This is an ideal book for sharing with young children but I feel sure that slightly older children will want a look in too and they are more likely to appreciate the fabulous vocabulary and sentiments within the story. It is a perfect book for bedtime for children of any young age.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

Also, if you are looking for another great book for bedtime, why not take a look at Oliver Who Would Not Sleep by Mara Bergman and Nick Maland.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Bouncy Bouncy Bedtime by David Bedford and Julian Russell at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
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