One of the lovely things about writing a book blog, and in particular a children's book blog, are the lovely people who share our simi...

Bedtime with Bookish Friends

Monday, April 24, 2017 BookBairn 19 Comments

One of the lovely things about writing a book blog, and in particular a children's book blog, are the lovely people who share our similar interests on blogs or social media accounts of their own. I feel so lucky to have met many like-minded people, often like-minded mamas, who share a passion for really good children's literature and encouraging all the little bookbairns out there to enjoy reading. There are quite a team over on kidsbookstagram on Instagram as well as the tweeting lovelies and pbnatterers (picture book natterers) on Twitter. But without a doubt my two bookish besties are @bookmonsterally and @bookloverjo. They have supported me from almost my very first blog post, they retweet and comment on lots of my posts and make me feel like a blogging superstar, as well as a valued friend! And we are very lucky to have them!

Especially because Jo has recently taken a more focused attention on her blog for slightly older readers (aged 5-13) meaning sometimes she doesn't need all the lovely board books that she gets sent from publishers and BookBairn is often the recipient of wonderful post from Aunty BookLoverJo! And my goodness, the most recent cast-off has been a huge hit!!

You know how much we adore the Pom Pom panda series of books by Sophy Henn and she has nailed it again creating a wonderful toddler-friendly character in Ted! In 'Bedtime with Ted', Sophy has again created a toddler that we can instantly recognise character traits of our own little BookBairn!

The story has a simple premise (don't the best ones always?): it's Ted's bedtime. On each page a speech bubble shouts through "Bedtime, Ted!" and on the reverse page... "Not yet says Ted". I mean, how many parents haven't heard that phrase over and over at bedtime?! Under the full-page size flap you then see the reasons why Ted is too busy for bed: it's bath time with his penguin friends, or he's brushing his teeth with a crocodile or my personal favourite he's "jump jump jumping out the fidgets like a bouncy kangaroo." All parents will be pleased to know that he does eventually get into bed with all his animal friends and drifts off to sleep.

There are many reasons why BookBairn loves this book but first and foremost it must be partly because she can identify with Ted. She sympathises that the grown ups think that it's bedtime but what do they know? Of course there are many things still to be done before they nod off - not least have a crazy last minute dash around the house to get those last bits of energy worn off (do other people's toddlers do this?). And Sophy has created in Ted the perfect parallel. She also loves to lift the flap and reveal Ted making mischief with his friends. And of course, the illustrations are just fabulous! Bright coloured backgrounds with a few simple objects to help you identify which room of the house you are in but most of the detail is in Ted and his friends and their antics allowing little ones like BookBairn to make the connections between the words and the illustrations so easily! Ted is irrestible in his red and yellow wellies with his orange and turquoise bobble hat (I'll be he chose his own outfit that day!) and his animal friends are as cute and cuddly as can be.


I love this book for one peculiar reason: Daddy BookBairn can't read it all the way through without yawning on the last page! And that makes me laugh. Every time! It doesn't matter if he's reading it at 7pm bedtime, 1pm naptime or any other time in between he yawns a huge yawn! So if you're looking for a book to help little ones fall asleep forget that 'Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep' book for making little ones tired - this one works a treat on grown ups and kids alike! And the illustrations are way better!!!

We cannot recommend this highly enough so thanks Jo for sending it! 'Bedtime with Ted' is one half of a duo of books, the other being 'Playtime with Ted' but unfortunately our local bookshop didn't have it yesterday so I'll be ordering it online instead! Look out for it in our #bookpost on social media soon!

Happy Bedtime Stories!
Mummy, BookBairn and a sleepy Daddy! xx





19 comments:

  1. I wish we'd had this book when MummyBookBairn was a toddler. She was impossible to get to sleep.

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    1. Yes, sleeptime books just weren't as good back then! I love Bedtime with Ted but it was BookBairn who led me through the book, she loves it that much!

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    2. Oh dear, sorry I was such hard work! Your grandson is getting some payback tonight! x

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  2. This sounds like a lovely book and how nice to have a book blogger friend to pass even more books on to you! Every time I read to my daughter it makes me yawn, even though I love most of the books I read to her!

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    1. It's lovely that she sent it on! Bedtime stories always make me sleepy xx

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  3. Oh I love the look of this and I agree how lovely for you to have friends that share their books!! Thanks for sharing with #ReadWithMe

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    1. Friends who share books are the best friends!!

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  4. This sounds like a great bedtime story.

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  5. Looks like a lovely little bedtime story, will need to purchase for the toddler :)
    #KLTR

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    1. It's a great one for toddlers! And parents who can sympathise and recognise their little toddler traits in the characters!

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  6. So funny that it makes Daddy sleepy! Looks like a lovely little read, we'll have to look out for this one. x
    #KLTR

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    1. It makes me snigger every time he yawns!!

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  7. I love the look of the character! I feel a series coming on :) #readwithme #kltr

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    1. There are two already! Ted is adorable!

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  8. This sounds like a lovely book and hopefully you get the next one in the series soon! :) Thanks for linking up to #KLTR . My daughter also loves to read at any time of the day!

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    1. We read stories all day too! Books literally litter the house. But there's something special about the last story before bed isn't there? x

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  9. This looks like a gorgeous book, love Sophy Henn's illustrations #KLTR

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