A Bed of Your Own by Mij Kelly and Mary McQuillan
| A Bed of Your Own by Mij Kelly and Mary McQuillan | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Jo Heffer
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| Summary: Suzy Sue is looking forward to climbing into her bed all ready for a good night's sleep. Therefore, she is more than a little perturbed to discover that she is sharing her bed with some uninvited guests. This won't do at all so she has to find a way to get them all back to their own beds. If she doesn't, it looks as if no one will get a good night's sleep. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: August 2012 |
| Publisher: Hodder Children's Books | |
| ISBN: 9780340999288 | |
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Suzy Sue has brushed her teeth, picked up her teddy and clambered into her bed. She is ready to fall asleep any moment until she realises that something is not quite right:
I'm squished. I'm squashed. I'm uncomfy! she said.
I think there's something wrong with my bed.
You can imagine her surprise when she realises that the reason that the bed is so strange is because she is sharing it with a cow wearing pyjamas. She's just trying to understand why the cow is sleeping in her bed when a horse pops up out of the covers quickly followed by a sheep and a goat. No wonder Suzy Sue falls out of bed while they are:
all tossing and turning,
all hogging the covers
and fighting for pillows and kicking each other
Suzy Sue becomes very cross and insists that all the animals go back to their own beds. But will they go? It looks like she will have to come up with a cunning plan if she is to have any hope of getting to sleep.
This charming book, which is a lot of fun, is an ideal book for bedtime. It is funny with an appealing central character that you really do have to sympathise with. Suzy Sue is determined to get a good night's sleep and nothing is going to stop her. Mind you the animals are all pretty determined too that they are not going to sleep in their own beds so it does turn into a battle of wills.
The entire story is written in rhyme which makes it more enjoyable as well as helping to develop early phonological awareness skills. Also, certain words that the author wants to draw particular attention to are in bigger, bolder font. The story is very funny and quite loud at the beginning but achieves a more soothing effect when Suzy Sue tries to advise the animals how to get to sleep. She tells them that they need to feel how their bed is all comfy and cosy, and then:
...Feel how it makes you all drowsy and dozy.
Feel a safe, soothing softness beginning to spread
from the tips of your toes to the top of your head.
And all of your worries are wafting away,
'like a bunch of balloons on a cloudless spring day.
I think that the words are all really well chosen with some lovely similes and examples of alliteration. Also, these are calming thoughts for little children who are also struggling to get to sleep.
The story is also accompanied by some fabulously funny illustrations. We love the look on Suzy Sue's face when she discovers the cow and the horse in her bed and it's extremely amusing to see the cow in his pyjamas and the horse with his cuddly toys. The illustrations are all bright and bold and really enhance the enjoyment of the story.
Overall, A Bed of your Own is a great picture story book and one that I'm sure young children"
Why not also take a look at Bouncy Bouncy Bedtime by David Bedford and Julian Russell
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You can read more book reviews or buy A Bed of Your Own by Mij Kelly and Mary McQuillan at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy A Bed of Your Own by Mij Kelly and Mary McQuillan at Amazon.com.
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