Can't Sleep?? (Peace At Last - Jill Murphy)

Member Name: tb4ms

Product:	Peace At Last - Jill Murphy
Date:	26/10/06 (151 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good story line and excellent illustrations.

Disadvantages: None

When I read this to a group of 4 and 5 year olds today, it was really hard to believe that this book is infact a quarter of a century old, how old does that make me feel?!

Written in 1980, this was Jill Murphy's fist picture book and was commended for the Kate Greenaway Medal.

Jill had already written the Worst Witch stories which are still enjoyed by the Year 2 children at my school, it has to be said though, it's predominantly the girls who enjoy this series.

Peace At Last, however is 'unisex' in the sense that it is enjoyed by the girls and boys I read it to.

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The Story
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It begins at bedtime. Mr & Mrs Bear along with Baby Bear all go up to bed. Mrs Bear went straight to sleep (if only I was like that!) but Mr Bear couldn't sleep and found it exceptionally hard when the Missus begins to snore.
"Oh NO!" said Mr Bear " I can't stand THIS."
So he goes in to baby bear's room who is , pretending to be an aeroplane.................he can't stand that noise so goes in to the living room for some peace and quiet.
But the tick-tock of the cuckoo clock irritates him so he tries the kitchen, where guess what, there's a dripping tap and the hum of the fridge.
The garden is no better because of the different sounds of the animals.
The car is cold and uncomfortable but he was so tired he just begins to drift off to sleep when the sun begins to come up and the birds start their early morning call.

So exasperated he goes back in to the house and in to bed and says, " Peace at last."

No such luck, within minutes the alarm clock goes off. Mrs Bear asks if he has slept well and goes to make him a cuppa.

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Illustrations
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Jill Murphy's illustrations in this book are quite comical and can be appreciated by adults. The sheer exasperation and exhaustion on Mr Bear's face as the night drags on and he is faced with all of the different noises is captured brilliantly by Murphy.

In the living room, Mr Bear is depicted on the armchair with a pillow over his head in an attempt to drown out the tick-tock of the clock and the expression on Mr Bear's eyes when the alarm clock goes off will be appreciated by adults who have had a terrible night's sleep and the fear of the alarm call!

The illustrations are bright and very busy so that a lot can be discussed with very young children.

I've taken some photos of the illustrations.

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The style and age range
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I have read this with 3 - 6 year olds.
The children love the sound effects that they can re-create: the snoring, the 'nyaaow' of the aeroplane, the tick-tock and cuckoo of the clock, the dripping of the tap, the'too-whit-too-whoo' of the owl, the 'miaow' of the cat and so on..............but be prepared for quite a bit of noise if reading this to a large group, all great fun though!

The text isn't too tricky and the repetitive speech of Mr Bear, 'Oh NO, I can't stand THIS' is really good for children, as it builds up their memory and encourages participation.

We looked at the capital letters in some of Mr Bear's words today and discussed why capitals were used.....once the children realised that it depicted Mr Bear's louder voice they joined in with huge voices!

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Price and where to buy it
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Most bookshops stock this but why not check out www.amazon.co.uk for the following bargains:
Paperback used and new from 1p! Instead of the usual £4.99
Boardbook used and new from 74p rather than the usual £4.99

There's also an audiobook available.

My book is published by MacMillan books
(ISBN: 0-333-34185-6) but Puffin books also have a publication.

Jill Murphy has written a range of books for young children some of which I have listed below:
A piece of cake
Five minutes peace
A quiet night in
All in one piece
The Last Noo-Noo
All for one

Summary: A great book for pre-school and young children.