Time for Bed

by Mem Fox (Author) Jane Dyer (Illustrator)

Time for Bed
Reading Level: K − 1st Grade
Day is done. Darkness is falling everywhere and little ones are getting sleepy, feeling cozy, and being tucked in. Fox's rhythmic verse and Dyer's tender watercolor illustrations combine for a bedtime book that is perfect for lulling little children to sleep.
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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.)

Copyright 1993 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

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

Copyright 1992 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Mem Fox
MEM FOX is the author of many acclaimed picture books, including Possum Magic, Koala Lou, and Time for Bed. She lives in Adelaide, South Australia.

TRICIA TUSA has illustrated several picture books, including her own Maebelle's Suitcase; Camilla's New Hairdo, a Parents Magazine Best Book; and Bunnies in My Head, which features drawings by the young patients at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. She lives in Houston, Texas.

Classification
-
ISBN-13
9780152010669
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Clarion Books
Publication date
April 04, 2023
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV010000 - Juvenile Fiction | Bedtime & Dreams
Library of Congress categories
Animals
Bedtime
Stories in rhyme
Book Sense Book of the Year Award
Nominee 1995 - 1995

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